Week 2: Team T & E Work Out the “Bumps”

Coach: Tammy Strome

Well…week one is done!

As expected, it was a bumpy ride for E , especially when she realized she couldn’t eat certain foods she was eating liberally in her off season. Also, it’s always a jolt when you have to get to the gym so early. Fortunately, she works at a gym, so she can do her cardio in the morning and her weight training in the afternoon.

Near the end of the week, she was getting the hang of things. E is no stranger to hard work and she always buckles down when the time comes.  Okay, yeah, she snuck a few extras in during the off-season but we can deal with it. She’s human, and I expect consistency not perfection.

The good news: she noticed some body changes due to water loss already, as I expected.

The bad news: E is feeling a bit down after having to contend with others’ opinions of her off-season weight. It’s not entirely their fault.

A lot of people—including athletes—don’t fully understand that it’s not healthy to stay “ripped” all year. I learned the hard way when I was out there competing on the stage myself.

At first, I thought what I was doing was awesome. I  was taking home trophy after trophy as a reward for my hard work.  The problem started a few years in when I became obsessed with my body at the cost of nearly everything else in my life. I was able to keep it hidden because my life looked great on the outside. Inside, however, something felt very wrong. I was miserable and my immune system wasn’t performing properly.

“Wait a minute,” I thought. “Isn’t this whole sport about being healthy?”

That was a great turning point for me. I started looking much more closely at what pain I had not dealt with from earlier in my life.  Body building had saved my life initially but not dealing with the everything was causing me to use my body as a distraction.   I’m grateful I went through that.  I emerged a better athlete, a better person…and a better coach.

But I still see other people completely losing themselves–their whole identity is wrapped in their body. For women this is especially dangerous as it can affect female reproductive health, adrenal health and bone mass. I also think it can lead to dysmorphia, where an athlete has a distorted view of his or her own body. Athletes then may seek radical diet changes and take drugs to force the body to stay unnaturally lean.

Don’t get  me wrong! You can stay a softer lean, but you cannot stay contest lean. I keep a watchful eye on my lady athletes and teach them the warning signs that they could be developing a problem. There’s a reason why the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders now recognizes “eating disorder – bodybuilder type.”

Wanna know more? Check out the article I wrote for Inside Fitness Canada magazine last year.

Don’t forget to check out Thursday’s post, which will teach you how to create an effective training program!

Yours in health,
Tammy

Client: Eftihia (E)

Week one OVER!

Because I had a fairly relaxing “off season” (okay, I indulged in a few things), this first week was difficult. Actually, the first two days were brutal. I was extremely grumpy and scrambling to get organized. Since I now had to eat an entirely new, specialized diet, I had to run to COSTCO and buy food in bulk (Note: it’s funny to see how people react when you buy half a freezer full of tilapia!).

Oh, how I already miss the days of peanut butter, Nutella, almond butter and my euphorically sweet post-workout teaspoons of jam!

I had to PURGE…yes, THROW OUT, anything I might reach for in a moment of weakness. I know I’m strong and can stick to a diet but, sometimes, after putting in hours of hard work, I feel entitled to a treat.

Oh let’s just have one, shall we? One couldn’t hurt.

But I know from experience that one can lead to more! I also had to make time to prepare food so it’d be ready to go in the morning before cardio and work. This meant I had to reorganize my day. Balancing cardio, my job and workouts while also having to plan the week ahead is pretty nuts after the lovely off-season break I just had.

*Sigh*

But, now, my brain is shifting into contest preparation mode, and my body is slowly catching up to the idea. I get that the next 14 weeks are all about me. Competing requires focus, motivation, self-discipline and commitment. Mentally preparing myself is important to me–it helps get me into “the zone” (What zone? The–I’m gonna do awesome no matter how hard this is–zone, of course!)

My mental preparation helped when I saw Tammy last Sunday, and she uttered the dreaded words “morning cardio.” I expected this to start 8 weeks from the contest but, based on my current body measurements, I’ve earned the 4:30 am wake-up call!

As this week progressed, I felt my body losing water and beginning to transform. My clothes became looser. As much as morning cardio sucks, it gets results!

And I have to admit, it was nice seeing the “morning crowd” again at the gym. Many people recognized me from my last bout of contest prep and they immediately guessed I was training to compete on the stage again, because why else would I be there at 5 am? Anyway, it was motivating.

Of course, there is—and always will be—the odd person (actually two people) who look at you with sad eyes and actually say TO YOUR FACE…

“It’s so sad you put on weight in the off-season.”

Thanks to Tammy’s support, I just remind myself that these people don’t necessarily understand how this sport works and what one must do within that to stay healthy.

There are several stages to bodybuilding. Tammy has taught me (and I’m always telling myself) that I have to love ALL stages of contest prep and ALL the parts of my body. The off-season stage should be just as fun as the contest stage. It takes an INSANE amount of strength to push the negativity out of my way in order to stay healthy in both MIND and BODY. Talking to Tammy always helps me feel better and having a family that understands the process and always makes you feel beautiful helps to keep things in check as well!

I’m a lucky woman to have all this support. And thanks to all of you supporting me out there as well. Just knowing you’re out there cheering me on makes this easier…and more fun.