Wikipedia describes intermittent fasting as, “a pattern of eating that alternates between periods of fasting (usually meaning consumption of water and sometimes low-calorie drinks such as black coffee) and non-fasting.” From there, different proponents of IF promote various styles with two in particular being the most popular:

• 20/4, otherwise known as “The Warrior Diet”, involves a 20 hour a day fast (in which low-calorie vegetables and liquid greens are permitted) with the day’s calories consumed during a 4 hour break-fast. (see what I did there? )
• 16/8, otherwise known as “Lean Gains”, involves a 16 hour a day fast (in which only water, no-calorie drinks and black coffee/tea are permitted) with the day’s calories consumed in an 8 hour window.

Why would anyone do this? That’s sort of the question I’m looking to answer. A lot of people believe that fasting forces your body to utilize stored energy (read: fat) instead of constantly using the energy you’ve been consuming through the day.

The question I’ve been asked most since undertaking this experiment is How is starving yourself healthier? Here’s the thing, though. I’m not starving myself. I’m eating a full day’s worth of calories just in a shortened period of time. The people who experience those physical and emotional feelings of starvation are those on severely calorie-restricted diets whereas I have been eating roughly 2500 calories a day of whole foods to accommodate for my current level of activity.

I had done a fair amount of research myself before diving into this experiment, as did Coach Krissy, and as with anything I gave the negative comments as much weight as the positive ones. In particular, she forward me an article by Charles Poliquin that dives into some of the “cons”:

Similar trends are being reported by humans who have tried intermittent fasting. Studies and personal reports by men and women suggest the following cons to the practice:
•    Obsession over food during the fast period (watching the clock constantly in expectation of the next meal, which of course raises anxiety).
•    An over-reliance on coffee that causes  severe adrenal fatigue, hormonal, and circadian dysregulation.
•    Insomnia, particularly among women, due to activation of the hypocretin neurons that incite wakefulness.
•    Hormonal havoc for women takes many forms, including adult acne, metabolic disturbance, obsession over body image, and menstrual irregularities.
•    Over time, the ovaries shut down and women stay awake at night, presumably an adaptive response so they can hunt for food to keep them alive. In other words, why become pregnant if you are going to starve the baby?

It’s important to have both sides in order to form a more rounded opinion on any subject. What I found interesting about the above list though, is that is almost completely describes how I felt on the six-small-meals-a-day method, the traditional “bodybuilder’s diet”.

The bulk of my day, from the moment I had breakfast until the moment I went to bed was spent obsessively watching the clock, counting down the minutes until the next time I could eat. My life went from fitting my meals into my day to fitting my day around my meals. My anxiety levels were always high, my days dragged on at a snail’s pace, I was always hungry yet never full. By the time I would get to each meal I would have it finished in under five minutes because I was so desperate for food and after the last morsel I would start the countdown all over again.

In order to make it to the next meal without an anxiety attack I was filling up on coffee (which, prior to this year I had never drank in my life), flavoured teas, aspartame-laden water enhancers and pack after pack (after pack) of sugar-free gum. To me, that’s not healthy and it obviously wasn’t working. I stopped seeing any significant changes to my physique around February. Carb intake came down, time spent doing cardio went up and I continued to obsess about food constantly which usually lead to me cheating on my diet quite dramatically.

Around this time, I started waking up in the middle of the night absolutely starving. I would have to chug a bunch of water to make myself forget about it and then I’d be up and down the rest of the night dealing with all the water I’d drank. I also experienced hormonal imbalances that effected everything from the regularity of my menstrual cycle right down to sudden, abnormal hair growth.

The last con about the staying awake at night with the urge to hunt small game… yeah, I’m just going to leave that one alone.

Needless to say, it would seem (in my case) that the cons for trying IF weren’t really all that scary that it would deter me from it since I was already seeing them on my current meal plan. Onward I trudged!

Coach Krissy did an amazing job of putting together two meal plans (one for workout days and one for rest days) both with a fairly high caloric intake, both full – and I mean FULL – of healthy, nutritious foods that would still allow me to meet all of the day’s nutritional requirements while adapting to a 16/8 IF plan on workout days, and 18/6 on rest days with the inclusion of a greens supplement during the fast. Also during this time I do my workouts fasted (WHOA – I’m gonna stop you before you hop on your muscle catabolism high horse) with the help of 10g of BCAA’s before, during and after my workout to make sure that my muscles are being fed even when my stomach isn’t.

I know this is getting long so thank you to everyone who has kept reading. I’ll dive right in now to my first experiences on this plan. I will say ahead of time that these two weeks aren’t the best for judging results because there were a few days where my food choices weren’t so good (I had a friend visiting one weekend followed by my birthday the next weekend) which likely skewed the results. Regardless of the food I was taking in, I have maintained the 16/8 – 18/6 eating pattern.

Days one and two… well, they sucked. My brain demanded to know why I hadn’t eaten breakfast, my body demanded to know why I was working out on an “empty stomach” and I just wanted to lay on the couch. Things changed dramatically by day three. The fog that had been clouding my brain the previous days was gone, I had an absolutely amazing, energy-filled workout and above all else… I wasn’t hungry. At all.

Since then I have not had any issues making it through the morning on my own steam. I had been concerned about feeling lethargic, like my blood sugar was low, or having hunger pangs but I haven’t experienced any of that. In fact, I can’t remember a time when my blood sugar was so consistent. I feel really great! I’m sleeping great (no desire to start hunting yet), I’m in good spirits, getting all of my water in, all of my food in and most importantly… my sugar cravings are nearly non-existent.

The reason? I’m eating so much at a time that I’m so full I can’t even imagine eating anything else. I feel full! That never happens! By the time I finish eating around 7:45 p.m. I’m so done with food that I want to stop eating. On my previous plans as soon as I finished my last meal I’d be wondering what else was in the cupboards I could snack on – this is something I have never experienced and it’s kind of awesome.

I’ll also point out that I haven’t had the urge to drink any kind of caffeinated beverages (coffee, tea, etc) during this time and it’s been about a month since I last chewed a piece of gum so those are two things I have managed to cut out completely and not miss.

As for results… I’ll have to wait and see. It’s a bit early in the game yet. I go for a check-in next week so I’ll get a better idea of where I’m at but I think I need to give this plan a decent run to truly see how it can fit into my life.

Not simply because they’re cute little balls of fluff with the tiniest ears ever, but because I love to experiment and be experimented on (I can’t confirm that real guinea pigs feel that positive about it). It doesn’t matter what it is really, I’ve always been keen to stick up my hand and say “I’ll try it!” when given the opportunity.

A couple of years back my hair stylist expressed that she had never put hair extensions in before – so I got extensions. Trainer Cathy was always learning new things at CanFitPro conferences, exercises that even she had just tried for the first time – so I was the first to have them in my plan. I got a juicer for Christmas and my kitchen immediately became a scientific lab, attempting to find the ideal combination of fruits and vegetables to make the best juices without ever using a recipe – needless to say, a lot of vegetables died valiantly during the process.

That’s just the type of person that I am. It worked quite well for me in my career as a journalist because I was always eager to try something new for the sake of a story. In the case of this blog it has lead to product reviews and some soon-to-be-published reviews of aesthetic services. Now, through the process of getting stage ready for the WBFF 2014 season, it has taken me down a path of experimenting with the way I eat.

After discussing it with all-knowing, wise and beautiful Coach Krissy, this summer will be an opportunity for me to try new things and play around with styles of eating. I’ve always strongly felt that you can’t truly give your opinion about something without facts to back it up and the best way to make a fact-based statement is by having your own evidence. Now, to clarify, this doesn’t mean I’m going to be trying a bunch of fad diets – quite the opposite. This experiment involves eating styles: ways of eating that people consistently use on a daily basis. If it has a snappy moniker that ends with the word diet and it was introduced to the world through a NYT bestselling hardcover – you likely won’t find me trying it out.

First on the docket deals more with nutrient timing and frequency … intermittent fasting. I’m about a week into the new plan and ready to start writing about my initial experiences. Keep an eye out for the first of what will (hopefully) be many blogs about my experiment-filled summer!

I am full of anticipation, waiting to see my beautiful Team Fit Starts Here teammates hit the stage at the WBFF Nova Scotia Championships tomorrow morning. Even though I’m not competing I still feel like I’ve come on this journey with them, listening to their stories, reading hilarious texts about the less than desirable body changes that come along with the positive ones and feeling like even though I’m not going to be standing up there next to them that I am still part of the team.

I won’t lie and say I didn’t deal with some jealousy woes shortly after my decision to not compete. I am only human. At this point though, I don’t feel anything but elation. I’m not their coach and they did all the work but I still feel an unusual sense of pride when I see how far they’ve all come these past couple of weeks. Maybe it’s because I know how hard they’ve worked and I know there’s been struggles along the way and I know, at times, they were punching well above their weight (at this point, you can take that quite literally – tiny waists everywhere!)

Without a doubt I know that I’ve met some of the women that I’m going to be friends with for many years to come through this process and, while I know that web will only grow larger over time, there will always be something special about the originals.

With that, I want to wish Abbie, Jenna, Jill, Jade, Cora, Lindsay and Stephany the best of luck tomorrow. (I know it’s bad to wish good luck but saying break a leg seems just as risky when you consider how many pairs of six-inch stripper heels are involved.) You all look beautiful and although only one person can win the trophy, you’ve all won the first stage of the contest – getting up there. Good job. <3

So long, old friend

Admittedly, I allowed these runners to extend well past their prime. I loved them though – both aesthetically and for comfort reasons.

I have a hard time finding running shoes because I have an odd shoe size – 10.5 – and most companies either only go up to a 10 or only have half sizes up to 9.5. Nike is one of the few companies that makes running shoes that fit me perfectly.

I got these in the fall of 2012 and I have put well beyond the recommended 500 miles on them. They’ve gotten me through multiple races and everyday cardio but as I was training for the Bluenose Marathon these past couple of months I really started to notice that they were near the end of their life. The tread looks good from the surface, but below it, the midsole has worn down considerably, leading to a fairly noticeable underpronation.

For a brief moment, in the days leading up to the Bluenose, I considered running in my trainers (gasp!) because I didn’t think I would have a good run if I wore these and it was just too close to the race to get a new pair of shoes and break them in. I knew deep down though, that they could come through for me one more time. So I strapped them on, relishing in the comfort that comes with a pair of shoes that has, over time, conformed to the exact shape of my foot and I ran the best race of my life.

Finished the 2013 Bluenose Marathon 10k a full 10 minutes faster than last year and 2 minutes faster than all of my training runs!

Now it’s time to say goodbye to my faithful friends and send them off to running shoe heaven. Hopefully I will be able to find a pair of Nikes that I love half as much as my Lunarglide 2′s (they’re actually on the Lunarglide 4 now!) and if they could be pink… well that would just be the perfect way to pay homage to the shoes that took me from out-of-breath-after-30-seconds to 10k’s.

Read the article in PDF format or read on in text format (which, again, is just not as fun…)

Whether she’s jetting off to Greece with a soccer team, riding the waves at a Costa Rican surf camp or finding zen at a yoga retreat, Lindsay Smith loves to combine her adventurous spirit with her passion for healthy living. The nursing student and Cole Harbour, N.S. native believes health and well-being are the essence of life. With a background in nutrition, Smith says she is happiest when she’s fueling with whole foods, exercising her body and keeping up with the latest trends and hot topics in the health and fitness field. On May 25, 2013 Smith will take the stage as a competitor in the WBFF Nova Scotia Championship but still found the time to answer a few questions for Fatty Got A Fitness Blog.

What made you decide to compete?:

While working out at the gym last year, I was approached by my previous coach who saw me working hard day after day and suggested I set a goal, like competing in a bodybuilding competition. I did just that and competed in the Bikini Model category at the NSABBA in April 2012 – I have been hooked ever since!

Why have you chosen the WBFF?:

I have chosen the WBFF because after learning more about it, I feel it’s the right fit for me and it’s so important to feel confident and beautiful on stage surrounded by fellow supportive competitors. I think being able to showcase stage presence and grace in an evening gown as well as posing suit really exemplifies what a competition should be about!

Tell me about your coach, WBFF Bikini Pro Krissy Adams-Schofield:

I met Krissy only two short months ago but she has completely changed my entire outlook on my diet and training, and I have gained massive insight and have seen amazing results while working with her! She is by far, the best coach I have ever had and have so much respect and admiration for her. Her client’s health is what it comes down to and that is what drew me to her in the first place.

Before her, I now realize I was eating way too few carbs and doing way too much cardio, all with the goal of being stage-ready in a few short weeks which compromised my health and well-being. I had very little energy, found it very hard to focus in school, and was getting nowhere with my results and felt like I was stuck.

It is incredibly demotivating when you are unknowingly over-working yourself and feel you can’t push any harder and are stuck at an unhappy place with your mind and body. Krissy helped turn that all around for me where I am now seeing positive changes each week, feel full of life and energy all the time and I really feel like my body is functioning properly again and I can’t thank her enough for that!

How has being part of Team Fit Starts Here helped you through your prep?:

I feel honored to be part of Team Fit Starts Here – surrounding yourself with positive people all with a common goal helps the process immensely! All of the girls on the team are so wonderful. It’s amazing to share this journey with others and I wish them all great success!

What have you found most surprising about the contest prep process?:

I have discovered that the mind needs to be stronger than the body, and on so many levels! Everything from blocking self-deprecating thoughts to not diving into that peanut butter jar when I feel a craving coming on, it all comes down to the mind and a little thing we call will power.

Every day there are challenges during prep, from not wanting to drag myself out of bed to get my morning cardio in, to not indulging in my favorite protein bar when going to Popeye’s or even putting almond milk in my coffee.

It is not easy but I get through it by knowing that in three weeks when I step on the WBFF stage for the first time I will be happy that I didn’t indulge in my moments of weakness and I’m sure I will want to do it all over again!

In what ways have you surprised yourself during your training?:

I have surprised myself by being strong and pulling through when I need to and keeping focused. Doing a competition challenges you in so many ways and I find I learn more about myself every time I compete. It has definitely made me stronger and I have learned to value myself more than ever before.

What is the biggest misconception people have when you tell them you’re competing?:

I have learned that I need to be specific when talking about competitions with people and can’t just say I’m competing in a “bodybuilding” competition, back when I did the NSABBA, because people assumed I was trying to gain a ton of muscle and actually be a bodybuilder where the bikini category is not like that at all! I have a lot of respect for body builders of every size, but I feel people are unaware of how vast a sport it is and there really is a category for everyone, depending of what show you choose.

What advice would you give to someone who was considering competing but was unsure?:

I would say that anyone who puts their mind to it and believes they can compete, can compete! Due to human nature, the first thing we want to tell ourselves is that we can’t do something because it’s easier than trying, where failure is our greatest fear.

I had the opportunity to complete my first prep with a best friend of mine, so having a support system is critical. Anyone out there who has been thinking about doing a show should go for it because as far as I’m concerned anyone who successfully endures the journey of prep and makes it to the stage is a winner!

FUN FACTS

Favourite exercise:
Lat pulldown and pull ups because they make me feel strong and powerful!

Least favourite exercise:
Deadlifts – no matter how hard I work on my form, I always feel them in my forearms more than my hamstrings. I’m sure one day I’ll learn to love em!

Favourite clean food:
Oats! They are the ultimate clean food because they keep me satisfied throughout the morning and can be used in endless delicious clean recipes!

Favourite “dirty” food: If I could have a cheat meal everyday my current go-to is homemade peanut butter burgers with sweet potato wedges and curry mayo. I would also kill for my boyfriend’s french toast palooza which is made with ezekiel bread and battered with 1 whole egg, 1/2c egg whites, stevia, vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg topped with almond butter, Nutella and sliced bananas!

What three things do you absolutely have to have in the gym with you?:
I absolutely have to have my iPhone loaded with new upbeat music, my pink Popeye’s shaker cup (filled with water at this point of training or bcaas on the off season or earlier into my prep) and the current issue of Oxygen on my steady state cardio days.

First up is Jade Martin!

Read the article in PDF format or read on in text format (which is not nearly as exciting ) …

Jade Martin has turned the Freshman 15 into a career devoted to helping others. After putting on a few too many pounds during her first year of University, the Dartmouth, N.S. native took charge of her health and started a long-lasting relationship with physical fitness.

Martin worked at the front desk of a local health club to pay her way through school and says she was inspired by seeing the positive results of the members who came through the doors. Feeling motivated to achieve her own amazing results, she started working out and was quickly hooked. After making the transition from the front desk to personal trainer, Martin decided to branch off on her own, launching Jumpstart Fitness. After two years in business she has her own gym and over 50 happy clients.

Martin took time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions for Fatty Got A Fitness Blog ahead of her WBFF stage debut at the Nova Scotia Championships on May 25, 2013.

What made you decide to compete?

I am always trying to push fitness to new levels and competing just seemed to fit. When some friends and I decided to watch the NSABBA show a few years back I knew I had to get on stage. My best friend Lindsay and I decided to go through the process together and plunged right in. We competed side by side in the bikini division last year and it was a great experience.

We have a great support system going, which is key in this sport. We prepped together, cried together, laughed together, sweated together, posed together and text each other constantly. We have both developed a love for the sport and will continue to compete together.

Why have you chosen to compete with the WBFF?

I love the message that the WBFF brings. It is about being fit, healthy, and bringing your best overall package. It is a fun and supportive organization to be involved with. Since deciding to compete with the WBFF I have met some amazing people and look forward to the others that I will meet as I continue to compete.

Tell me about your coach, WBFF Bikini Pro Krissy Adams-Schofield:

Krissy is one amazing lady. She is a coach who believes in the healthy and holistic approach to prep. She is always supportive, inspiring, and understanding when it comes to this journey. I admit I have had a few slip ups and rough patches but she is always there with a non-judgemental piece of advice.

With her I feel like no question is silly and I have had my fair share, but she is quick to give feedback and no question will go unanswered. She has truly shown me a new side to competition prep and I thank her for that. If anyone is thinking about competing, or just needs general fitness advice I would recommend approaching Krissy in a heartbeat. She is a kind person who genuinely cares about each one of her clients and offers true support as we go through this journey.

How has being part of Team Fit Starts here helped you through your prep?

All of the girls with Team Fit Starts Here are amazing. Twice a week we get together to practice posing and it is so good to chat and catch up on anything that went on during the week. To have a support system is one of the most important things during any competition prep and what can be better than a group of girls who are all going through peanut butter withdrawal?

What have you found most surprising about the contest prep process?

Contest prep is a whole new world, everything about it is surprising! While preparing for the WBFF I have found the most surprising thing is the actual people who are involved in the organization. There are so many people to go to for support, with the WBFF and Team Fit Starts Here, no matter what you are never alone.

In what ways have you surprised yourself during your training?

My time management skills! Trying to fit in meal prep, eating every few hours, working out twice a day, running a business, training my AWESOME clients, working part time at the hospital, planning a wedding and holding it down with my step son can all be quite overwhelming. However, with good support and the determination to succeed it can be done……but hey, everyone needs to relax once in a while, it is all about balance.

What is the biggest misconception people have when you tell them you’re competing?

That we starve ourselves. Like, hello, I eat every 2.5 hours!

What advice would you give to someone who was considering competing but was unsure?

I would say go for it! You never know if you don’t try. It is a sport that gives you so much self gratification and you feel really amazing. Throughout the process you will learn so much about yourself and how much you can push your body. It is an incredible process to go through and I think that you should dive in head first!

FUN FACTS

Favourite exercise:

Pull-ups! When I first started working out I always had my mind set on a goal of being able to do pull ups. I could hardly hang from the bar when I first started and now I can get 6 unassisted pull ups. It is a very empowering feeling! Also, anything to do with shoulders.

Least favourite exercise:

I have never liked doing legs, which sucks because they are such an important part of a workout regime.

Favourite clean food:

I look forward to oats every morning, and have recently discovered spaghetti squash! So amazing.

Favourite “dirty” food:

I am a sucker for peanut butter…..and I mean eating it with a spoon.

What three things do you have to have in the gym with you?

To get my best workout in I need to have my BCAA’s, my I-pod, and my fiancé. Yeah, I know I’m a sap but he is my biggest motivator and helps push me to be my best. I can’t get possibly through cardio without my tunes, and BCAA’s are so important for muscle recovery, along with tasting amazing!

It’s hard to look at yourself and remember how you got to where you are. A lot of my focus has been on where I need to be and I forgot about the places I had to go to get here. I took the opportunity to remind myself of just how hard I’ve worked and how far I’ve come the other day when I put these photos side-by-side:

I’ve worked really hard to get from the picture on the left to the picture on the right and when I was putting that little collage together I thought wow, I can do this, nothing is going to stand in my way. Life has a funny way of throwing you curve balls when you least expect them, though.

I went to work on Wednesday and found out I no longer have a job due to restructuring. At first I thought it’s fine, I’ll just have a bunch of free time to spend at the gym, I’m going to be in awesome shape for my show in just six short weeks. Then the harsh reality set in and I realized that despite my free time, I am now without an income. Fitness is an expensive hobby and competing is not a small investment. I have been saving money for a year just for this show and I had a little bit put away to pay for things like my bikini, evening gown, registration fees, posing classes, hair/makeup, etc but that money now needs to go to things like food, rent, bills and getting my life back on track.

I made a tough decision yesterday that I won’t be stepping on stage next month. My priorities have to change. It doesn’t mean I never will. Heck, who knows, maybe I’ll be in a better position to do a show later this year – anything could happen. I’m still going to be at the WBFF Atlantic Championships on May 25th, cheering on every single beautiful lady from my Fit Starts Here team who I am happy to call my friends and fitfam. I can’t wait to watch you all compete. Look out though, next year I’ll be coming for ya…

I need to thank all the people who have supported me up until this point. Please don’t stop because I’m probably going to need you now more than ever. I’m going to use this time as I reorganize my world to keep eating clean, keep training and come out of this a better me than I was when I went into it. I guess I just wasn’t ready to stop calling myself Fatty quite yet… <3

Given that we are new friends we are going through the getting-to-know-you phase of our relationship. Given that we are both training for the WBFF Atlantic Championships in just 10 short weeks… most of what we know about each other somehow involves food or supplements. Mostly food.

I was reminded of some of our most recent text conversations when Abbie posted the gem, Foods I Used to Love but Now Hate (and Vice Versa) so I decided to write a companion piece with observations of my own changing tastebuds.

Like Abbie, I’m not a picky eater. Unlike her, I’ve never cared much about food. Sweets? Yes. Real food? Notsomuch. My family has always been really big on snack food. We ate relatively well at meals but there was always dessert, then snacks after dessert.

I vividly remember being a child and playing outside with my friends. I decided I wanted a Fruit Roll-Up so I went inside and asked my mother, who was napping with a migraine at the time, if I could have one. She didn’t reply so I bugged her incessantly until she replied “Eat the whole box, I don’t care.” So I did. That became a theme through the rest of my life which continues today. I have no ability to have some, put it away and enjoy a little more at another time. When I get something, I eat it all, even if that means eating a dozen cookies in one sitting. Or a cake. Or a litre of ice cream.

I never had that relationship with food though. More often than not I would get BORED of eating whatever dinner was on my plate before I got a chance to finish it. Food still bores me today so I don’t care if the food itself is boring. I think that is what has helped me with my competition diet.

In spite of that, I have had an opportunity to try a lot of new (healthy) foods through this process and figured out some of the things I thought I wouldn’t like and actually do and some of the foods I’m happier without that I used to love.

I will point out at this point that Abbie’s list of hates includes some of my most loved items (celery, mustard, chicken and lettuce) while her list of loves are some of my most hated (seasonings, eggplant, milk products). I’ve never really cared about alcohol so we do have that in common.

Things I always thought I loved but now I hate (as stolen from Abbie):

- Salad dressing. I used to never eat salad without a pool of dressing at the bottom of the plate. Now I can’t stand it. Occasionally, I will throw on a splash of vinaigrette for a change (and I do love balsamic vinegar) but all-in-all I’m happier to just have vegetables.

- Pop. I drank a lot of pop/soda/cola/whatever as a young person. A lot. I’ve now gone a year and a half without it and when I took the opportunity to steal a sip from someone else’s drink a couple months ago I was sort of disgusted. I don’t remember it tasting like that. It was gross.

- Lobster. I will probably be publicly shamed in my community for admitting this but I don’t think I like lobster anymore. I recently picked up a lobster at the grocery store to have for dinner and I was quite excited because I hadn’t had one in a while. It wasn’t good. The meat sat heavy in my stomach and I just don’t care for the taste of it anymore.

- Rice. I used to eat rice on its own as a meal. Just a big bowl of rice. It really doesn’t interest me anymore.

- Pasta. See above.

Things I never knew I loved until now:

- Mango. I had never tried a mango and I will admit that figuring out how to cut one was daunting but once I had one I realized I was missing an amazing fruit experience.

- Avocado. This was another situation where not having a sweet clue of how to cut it made me stay away. A friend of mine showed me how to cut an avocado one day while she was making a salad but it was another four years before I ever tried one. They’re pretty good!

- Steak. My family was always huge on steak but I never liked it. When I did (reluctantly) have some, I would insist on it being VERY well done, then I would drown it in BBQ sauce so it tasted nothing like steak. Now, I crave it – give it to me medium well and hold the sauce.

- Tuna. My mother hates tuna and always reinforced a dislike of it into my mind, also. As a kid I didn’t have tuna salad sandwiches, I had salmon salad sandwiches. I still prefer canned salmon to canned tuna but I’ve grown to like it – especially mixed with avocado!

I’m sure there’s other things I could add to these lists. Ultimately though, make my food as boring as possible. Give me plain chicken and plain vegetables and I’m a happy camper. I don’t need my food to be fancy, the fewer the ingredients the happier the Julia.

Thanks Abbie for the great idea and I look forward to stealing ideas from you in the future. (Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery or something like that… lol)

For example, my workout this morning was triple sets (three exercises done in succession followed by a break). I do six sets of 15 reps per exercise.

You might think that the first set is the easiest and the last the hardest. After all, that would be reasonable given the physical demand on your body. It’s not really the case though. At least, not for me.

Set one: the ‘oh-this-might-actually-be-hard’ set. You feel fresh going into it but your muscles don’t really know what to expect and you quickly realize that things will not be as fun as you had originally expected.

Set two: the ‘I-can-do-this’ set. Now your muscles are warmed up after the first set and you know what to expect so the second set is often one of the easier ones. You’re getting into the swing of it now and feeling pretty strong.

Set three: the ‘this-is-getting-hard’ set, also known as the ‘am-I-really-only-half-way?’ set. Mentally, the third set is my most challenging. At this point it’s starting to get physically tasking, your muscles are getting tired and, even though you know you have to push past the discomfort, it’s damn HARD. At the same time you’re doing the mental math and realizing that after this set there’s still three more JUST LIKE IT still to come.

Set four: the ‘only-two-more-after-this’ set. The third set is out of the way and now the finish line is within view. You’re tired but you have a sudden motivation to power through and get the job done.

Set five: the ‘am-I-done-yet’ set. You used up way too much motivation on set four, now you’re just exhausted. There’s only one more set after this one though so you might as well just get it done.

Set six: the ‘is-that-all?’ set, otherwise known as the ‘I-could-do-another’ set. The sixth set often times feels very similar to the second set. The boost of adrenaline that comes with knowing that you’re almost done, coupled with the fact that you probably didn’t give it 110% in set five, comes with enough power to destroy the final set – like a boss. This set is usually accompanied by overconfidence, luring you into thinking that you could do a seventh set if you wanted to. You can’t though. Really. Just don’t try it. It’s painful.

Ultimately, the lesson to be learned from the numbers game is that we all feel really uncomfortable at times but it’s about pushing past the mental discomfort to find the spot where you start to feel like you’re in total control. In other words, don’t let set three break you because set six feels awesome.

Getting to the gym that early requires a certain amount of dedication and planning. Most people need to be at work so they don’t have time to mess around in the gym. They get in, they get out and they don’t get in my way. That’s the way I like it.

Recently though, I’ve been going to the gym at odd times (for me) and I’ve encountered people that are very different from my regular early morning crew. I’ll preface by saying I know it’s not nice to judge but there’s less than 13 weeks until I (hopefully) hit the WBFF stage and I just don’t have time to waste when I get into the gym. The following types of people have found their way onto my list of pet peeves:

The Meathead : Okay, you have huge muscles. Good for you. That doesn’t mean you get to hog the mirror while you check yourself out. Also, lifting super heavy while sacrificing any semblance of form does not make you look cool … quite the opposite, in fact. The worst habit that I notice with The Meathead? They pile plates onto bars then walk away from them and leave someone else to clean up their mess. Thanks, guys.

The Barbie-Weight Aficionado : The female opposite of The Meathead. A good example would be on Saturday when a woman expressed to me that she found it frustrating that all the mirrors are in the “men’s section”. I asked what she meant and she explained that the “men’s weights” (i.e. dumbbells over 10-pounds) were all over by the mirror, while the “women’s weights” (i.e. dumbbells under 10-pounds) were not. Surely, the reason for this couldn’t be that the smaller weights are more mobile and therefore easier to carry over to the mirror/benches? Women are not restricted to the Barbie weights, ladies.

The Chatters : There are a few different types of Chatters, all of them are equally as annoying. There seems to be a trend for young people to go to the gym, sit down on some mats (in the most inconvenient spot possible), play with their phones and chat. These people also come in a middle-aged variety and will typically be found standing in front of machines or dumbbell racks catching up.

The Crowders : There’s 25-feet of available space, why do you have to be 2-feet away from me? It seems that every time I find a nice, quiet, open space and set up my stuff in it other people get jealous of my super cool area and want to be in it, too. My gym has windows that overlook the pool area and quite often people will just stand and look out the windows. Tonight I found my little area, a cozy little corner to myself, and suddenly a guy walked over, stood ON my mat (where my head had just been) so he could lean against the window and watch his kids in swimming lessons. Why you gotta be in my space, bro?

The Creeper : If any man wonders why women’s gyms exist – it’s this guy. There’s a fellow at my gym (for the sake of this story let’s call him Ben) who latches on to every woman in decent shape. Ben lurks around while you’re doing squats to give you “tips” about form, stands next to the glute kickback machine to tell you about how much he lifts, goes to great lengths to convince you to go down to the sauna with him, whines if you don’t do cardio on the machine next to him and just makes everyone feel uncomfortable. Ben once came up behind me while I was doing deadlifts and tried to rest his water bottle on my ass because he “thought it was a shelf”. I’m not laughing, Ben. You’re 15 years older than me and I wouldn’t be caught dead in the sauna with you. Go away.

I could most definitely add to this list, but these encompass my most loathed gym folk. I’m sure they’re all great people when they’re at home (except for Ben maybe…) but they’re not the most courteous when they step into the gym. I have a plan when I walk in those doors and no one is going to slow me down! (Sorry.)