Following the Dream of Figure/Fitness
Olympia

When I decided to take control of my problem with weight gain, a problem that began when I was eight years old; I had a long difficult task ahead of me. However, I’ve never regretted my decision or looked back. I’m now aware of the pitfalls I fell into with bad eating habits.

Eating can be a way to escape the hurt feelings we have in life. Food provides nourish-ment and one can confuse the need for emotional nourishment by overeating. It is not the correct way but that’s what I did. My parents got divorced when I was eight years old. I didn’t know how to cope with my feelings so I started overeating, trying to escape.

From that time to age nineteen, I was sedentary and classified as obese from the body fat chart. Throughout my school years, I was ridiculed with names like butterball, fatty, wide load, two ton, etc. I was depressed and hurt, so I hid away in my room and overate. I lacked confidence in sports and resisted my mom’s attempts to keep me active. Inactivity and overeating made me gain more weight.

After graduating high school, I had boyfriends whose eating habits were no better if not worse. From McDonalds to Jack in the Box, fast food was my primary food intake and we would supersize! I did make several attempts to lose weight; a weight loss camp, trainers, aerobic classes, etc. However, I always fell off the program and gained everything back.

At age nineteen, things changed for me and I became committed to changing my life. It was a few days after Christmas which I’d spent gorging on sweets, when I decided to go to a local gym and take a kickboxing class for fun. When I got on the scale, I had maxed out at 181 lbs. Shocked, I realized I was close to 200 lbs, not acceptable for my tiny 5’3” frame. I went ahead and took the kickboxing class which I really enjoyed because of the amazing instructor. Her name is Denise Hart and after class she mentioned that she was also a personal trainer. I was so impressed by her physique; she’s also short with a small frame so I could relate to her easily. I signed up that day.

Denise corrected my eating habits, small meals 4-5 times a day, weight training twice a week, and cardio six times a week. As we trained, she would ask me, “Do you want it?” That motivated me to correct the bad eating habits and to train harder. I managed to lose 60 lbs. Motivated and so much happier with my new healthy body, I decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue a degree in exercise science.

I read the book, “Championship Bodybuilding,” and began training even harder more than attending school. One day while doing my cardio routine, I read a fitness magazine and discovered the fitness model, Monica Brant, who has such an incredible physique. I wanted to become a fitness model too. I contacted Monica by e-mail about getting a coach. We had a great talk on the telephone and she was so helpful, giving me all the neccessary contacts. She said the best way to get noticed is to compete. I began training with Joanne Lee and started nutrition counselling with Kim Oddo. I’m training with heavier weights, building muscle, have gone from 181 lbs/ 39.9 % body fat to 115 lbs/ 9% body fat, and will compete in my first figure competition on December 4, 2004. I’ve decided to reach for the sky and compete in Fitness Olympia.

It’s been four years since I began and no one believes I was ever heavy. I’ve changed my whole life, am now an athelete, and enjoy life so much more. I’m proof it can be done!

Now I want to payback what I've learned to help others. If you have any questions related to working out, diet, nutrition, bodybuilding or fitness email me at: cat@criticalbench.com. Your email may be chosen to be published on this page! Just be patient with my reply :)

Female Fitness - Questions & Answers

Cat's Column

Q: How can I stay motivated to live a healthy lifestyle when no one around me wants to live the same way?

Cat's Answer: This is a very tough situation many people face everyday. My advice is to do it for yourself! Remember that you only are given one body in life so you want to treat it right. Buy healthy foods and eat your own meal while visiting with friends and family. Use your workout time as your time to yourself away from everyone else-it can be your break time! Join activity clubs so you can meet people with similar interests creating a support group.

Q: What different things could I do to keep motivated to workout after a 12-hour workday?

Cat's Answer: One thing that has always helped me get my workouts in when I have busy days is scheduling. Make your workout an appointment. At the beginning of each week I type my schedule for the week and my training has an actual time blocked off. Block at least 30-60 minutes for cardio or weight training into your schedule daily. If you don’t have time for both do circuit training, which will keep your heart rate up while burning lots of calories. With days that are less busy, plan to train on them. If you only have 2-3 days where you work such long hours make those your rest days.

Q: My name is Trina Jettelson. I am very proud of you. I am a recovered eating disorder patient. I turned to Bodybuilding, figure and eating right for a better life. I was wondering what you do to get your butt and legs in such hard, great shape? I have big legs but would like to be a bit smaller and harder. Any tips? Thanks, Trina Jettelson

Cat's Answer: Hi Trina, Thank you for writing. My legs are usually what most people notice in my physique. I will be answering your question in two parts because lean legs and hard legs are two different things and to get them you have to do two different kinds of training.

PART A: The name that comes to mind when I think about how hard my legs got for competition is Joanne Lee!-www.joannelee.com. Once I started training with Joanne my life changed for the better and together we trained my legs heavy and hard. She used super set?s to keep them from bulking up. After that I shrank from a 6 to a 4!, without loosing a pound. Muscle is heavier than fat but also more compact. You?ll never shrink or get your legs hard with lightweights! Every woman I know is afraid of heavy weights and at the same time wants a toned looked. Looking toned is having muscle and little fat on your body plain and simple. Muscle raises your metabolism and burns more fat. IF YOU WANT HARD LEGS TRAIN THEM HEAVY! FOR EXERCISES AND DEMOSTRATION JOIN MY MEMBERS SECTION ON:
WWW.CATSALLTHAT.COM.

PART B: To get your legs lean you have to run track! Look at track runner?s legs, they are lean and hard! Once again it?s about challenging yourself and your body! Track is a very hard and intense sport that will change your body fast. I?ve run track in the morning and by the nighttime I can see lines and body fat drop. It burns a ton of calories and creates a leanness that is desired. Of course if you?ve never done this kind of training you need a trainer to help you and make sure your form is right. My trainer is Stephen Bauer and you can e-mail me for his contact number if you want. I also have demonstrations and video footage of me running track in my member?s section on:
www.catsallthat.com