Mom-In-Thongs Teaches Lessons Learned Winning Arnold Classic

I love the gym, the beauty industry and competition. Put all three together and you have the perfect recipe for the sport of Figure. That’s why I chose it and have been competing in it for the last year. I’ve won first in all of my shows to date, while keeping my health intact. My recent win at The Arnold Classic has taught me more lessons about health and fitness than any single certification or degree could teach. Hopefully, by passing them on to you, they’ll get you past the BS that lurks within the fitness industry.

Lea-Ann kissing The People’s Chemist (We are married)

Lea-Ann with UFC Fighter Anthony Johnson at UFC 96
(after winning the Arnold)

Learned Lesson #1: Avoid BS Diet Myths

The Arnold Amateur was the most exciting competition I have done thus far. And just like all the other shows, I have noticed a scary trend: starving, dehydrated, exhausted, bitchy women (so much for being healthy) trying to look like they are healthy and having fun on stage. The culprit behind it all: The BS fitness myths that tell us to eat a bazillion times a day and use Splenda to sweeten food in place of sugar.

Feeding your face all day long will play some seriously detrimental games on your metabolism, guaranteed. First and foremost, it keeps your fat storing hormone insulin high. This is great for bodybuilders on steroids who are not as sensitive to fat storage, but really bad for the rest of us. Eating four to six times per day simply forces us to go to the gym more often to avoid the fat gaining side effects. This leaves us exhausted and sometimes delirious. To feel and look great, you only need three quality meals per day, just make sure they are not served from a box, window or package.

Splenda is nothing more than a drug disguised as a sweetener. Are you kidding me? I thought you had to have a prescription from a doctor to eat drugs? Seriously though, it’s well known that Splenda is a wild-card that can cause numerous side effects, just like any other drug. And the headlines are clear: The artificial sweetener disrupts our brain’s ability to count calories, therefore leaving us feeling hungrier (bitchier) than we really are. Not cool for any athlete.

Learned Lesson #2: Never Deprive Yourself Of Sleep

Moms do it ALL right? I do. My competition schedule goes like this: Up at 5:30 am and to the gym at 6:00. Home at 7:45 to make breakfast for family, clean up, make lunches and send kids to school. Shower at 9:00 work at 10:00. Home at 5:00 pm, make dinner (maybe it’s my husband’s night and we grab healthy food out) clean up, family time till 8:00 and kids to bed at 8:30pm. Shane and I hang out, take our nightly Serotonin FX to “sleep like drunken bums naturally,” and since he needs his beauty sleep too its bed by 9:30pm, no exceptions. Repeat!

The only reason I can proactively dictate my own busy schedule is because I never deprive myself of sleep. And my physique benefits thanks to the subsequent release of human growth hormone during the resting hours. In total, inadequate sleep means I can’t keep up with myself or get the benefits of working my ass off at the gym.

Learned Lesson #3: Be Dirty

I’m the only dirty girl I know…I eat whole (not a sliver) avocados, coconut oil, whole eggs, peanut butter, real butter, seeds, nuts, real meat not lean meat, cheese, and all of these so called “dirty foods” that most people avoid. Meanwhile, the rest of the competition is eating whole grains, egg whites, rice and sugar laden sport bars.

The health gurus I crossed paths with would peak at my diet and insult me with statements like, “You can’t win with a dirty diet like that.” Well guess what? If that’s being dirty, then I’m a dirty girl.

I love fats. I THRIVE on them and I win competitions on them. My skin glows, my belly is full and I look younger now than I did 5 years ago.

Avoiding fat makes you age really fast, making you look old and wrinkly beyond your years. Fat helps the body absorb essential micronutrients which keep your skin glowing, metabolism boosted and muscles pumped – thanks to Hormone Intelligence Therapy that accompanies fat intake. My diet consists of 50% healthy fats.

More important than winning any athletic event is being healthy. Health should never be sacrificed. Yet, this has become the norm in many sports courtesy of sham marketing and self proclaimed health gurus who can’t tell the difference between science and marketing. Be wary. Watch out. And always go for the win, but keep your health intact.