It’s that time again…or well past it! Time for an update!!! I wish I had more exciting things to share but alas, such is life. I will do my best to entertain you with this blog 🙂
Let’s begin with competing.
No plans at this time to compete this year, maybe later in the year, maybe not. Might even wait until next year… or may not. I know, always so decisive right? I started off the year strong with every intention of competing in several shows. I’ve always wanted to compete in Canada and thought this would be “the” year with a show in Toronto and Vancouver. Well, turns out my body has other plans. See the last 2 years of competing took a BIG toll on me, mentally and physically. Too much stress for too long and my body is very unhappy. I’ve always had very sensitive hormones and need to always be aware of all kinds of stress. To say 2015 was the most stressful year of my life would be a slight exaggeration but not too far off. It started off the year before… I was already at a fairly low level of body fat and weight to begin contest prep in 2014, then went on to diet for over 25 weeks. Um. Ya. No fun, but amazing outcome! I then had a fairly short off season and a lot of work to do during that time, building up some weaker body parts as I was told I was “too small”. More stress on the body. I began my prep for the Olympia 5 months out and fairly heavy (more stress), those 5 months were probably some of the most challenging of my life. Now try managing physical stress while you are mentally stressed out… NOT the easiest thing! I ended up dieting last year for a total of 6 months straight. Not easy dieting either, I had a lot of weight to lose and you don’t show up at the Olympia in sub-par condition. So again, more stress. Sensing a common theme here? Lol.
Looking back, I don’t regret one second of it.
It was the most amazing journey and I learned so much. Sure, I could have been in better shape for the Olympia (I personally would have liked to come in a little tighter) but considering the time frame, I’m more than happy with how it all came together in the end.
The moral — stress isn’t a good thing.
Like I said, I started off the year with strong intentions and a fire under my as#. I felt 2015 left me like a race horse at the starting gate….”what do you mean THAT’S IT???? I JUST STARTED”! I feel like last year was a tipping point in terms of competing. I finally found my groove, found an awesome coach who I trust fully and respected, he understood my body and used a practical science based approach. I have never had a more attentive, amazing coach and for that I am grateful. This year, it seemed the harder I tried, the more my body wanted NONE of it! Intrinsically, I felt something was very off as I usually respond quickly to diet changes….so I began my quest to figure out what the issue was. After several Doctor’s, I was sent to a naturopathic hormone specialist and low and behold, my hormones were severely off. Like, REALLY not good off. The cause? Too much stress for too long. Sounds simple enough but it isn’t. The thing with hormones is once one is off, they all try to compensate and throw them all out of balance, but I will save that for another time!
Health is always my first priority.
There was a time in my life where I wouldn’t have cared, that competing was my priority and I would have ignored my intuition and done what I had to get on stage. What was I thinking? Oh right. I wasn’t! After a few discussions with my coach and him gently putting it into perspective for me, we jointly made the decision not to plan anything right now and see how things unfold. Let my body call the shots this time, which is a first for me and a new, rewarding experience.
Now I’m not going to start going all anti competing because that’s not me….but I do think it’s crucial to think longevity if
- You want to be healthy for life and
- You want to continue competing
Multiple shows a year is risky, especially as we age (I’m no spring chicken!) and even more so for females. Our hormones run everything in our body and fighting homeostasis to get to a very low level of body fat can severely alter that. Many times, they will naturally fall back into place once a healthier weight is achieved and the stress removed.
So how do I feel about sitting out this year?
Hard to say. Mainly, I feel relief! Constantly being on a diet and “having” to train wears on you, so this break is needed. As much as I love competing and feel sad at times that I’m not right now, I also know the stage isn’t going anywhere and that if I were to have pushed through this, it wouldn’t have ended well. Likely, I would have just done a lot more damage to my already delicate endocrine system and metabolism. I feel rejuvenated training now and have finally gotten back to loving my workouts. I’m eating intuitively and allowing myself just to be. As is. No “diet”, no expectations to live up to, no contest in sight (but not totally out of sight!). I know that when and if the time comes, I’ll be ready to give it more than 100%.
Now onto some exciting news!!!
Recently, I joined up with a team of amazing coaches under a company called Level Coaching, you can check out our website here: levelcoaching.co
Essentially, Level offers a very affordable way to train online with a very practical, user friendly system that produces amazing, permanent results. After speaking with the owners (who are wicked, like minded people), I knew this was what I needed to do to take my career to the next Level. Pun intended 🙂
Working with Level allows me to focus on what I do best…COACH! However, in order to grow a business in a very competitive market you need to be constantly marketing yourself in a creative way. This is where I fall short as I DETEST this aspect of business. Put me in a gym and I can get all sorts of creative…ask me to make a marketing plan and you will get a blank stare, lol. Boring!!!! So why not leave the business stuff to the people who have a successful track record and focus on what I love, so I can be a better, more productive and happier coach!
I’m really excited about working with the Level team and diversifying my skills to become a better coach. Make sure you check out our website and like us on Facebook!
While I’m at it, be sure to follow my Instagram where I keep things a little more personal.
Well, this gal is off to the gym! Hope you enjoyed catching up on my oh so exciting life (insert sarcasm here)! Keep working on your goals and stay healthy!
~Jamie