Oh wait, she reads my blog too.

Dang!

There are no real secrets. Honestly, once you post your first picture of you in a sweaty bra top and short-shorts, it just goes downhill from there. All barriers and worries about what people think are out the window; you just are and the world better be ok with that.

Just call me Open Book-Loree.

In a non-fitness theme, I have decided to jump on the bandwagon with Kari and answer some questions about me that have nothing to do with weight training, gluing a suit to your arse, or avoiding the peanut butter jar.

Random stuff about me you may or may not want to know.

• What’s the most interesting or moving book you’ve ever read?

First off, I love books. I am the woman that can read a book over and over and OVER. That being said, I have many favourite books, but ‘The Kite Runner’ made me think and change in ways I was unprepared for when I started reading it. I haven’t read it in nearly 5 years, so I would have to read it again to give you my original, over the top, and gushing review.

Powerful book that I could not put down.

I remember closing the book and saying outloud, “Redemption doesn’t always come to us the way we imagine it should”.

• Which do you prefer: the book or the movie?

Book. Always the book. Umm…I don’t even see why this question is on the list. Doesn’t EVERYONE prefer the book?

• If you could move to anywhere tomorrow, where would it be?

Soho, NY. I would live in an amazing condo over a treelined street that has a bakery on the corner with the most amazing pastries which I smell, but never eat and espresso that makes your hair stand on end. And of course I am a famous author that gets to write, weight train, and travel on fabulous book tours.

This about sums the feeling up.

If we are going to dream, we might as well do it up!

• What’s the one thing in life you can’t leave the house without?

My bra. I do not go in public without wearing my bra. Some women seem to think this is an optional thing in life, but not me. I would leave my phone, debit card, purse, and most anything else before leaving my bra behind. Wearing makeup and having your hair done is great, but if they girls are flying all over the place nothing else really matters.

• What’s the furthest place you’ve flown to?

Calcutta. In 1999 I went to Inda for a month and it changed my life. It is a beautiful, dynamic, and powerful place; I don’t think anyone can visit India and come back the same.

A very amazing place with a lurid history.

Helping at Mother Teresa’s orphanage, visiting the Taj Mahal, and spending time in the hospitals was an amazing adventure that I will never, ever forget.

• If you could be anyone for a day who would it be?

Nelson Mandela. It would be an absolute gift to look at the world from his perspective, hear his heart from the inside, and live with the wisdom that he gained over years of pain, heartache, and self leadership.

A true leader, in every sense.

• What is one word that best describes you? (ONLY ONE)

Panache.

• What’s been your greatest accomplishment to date?

Changing my mind about what is possible in life. When you change your mind, you change your world.

Truly.

• What’s your favorite type of food?

Dessert. I don’t think I have ever met a dessert that I wouldn’t like to taste. A close second would be hot, homemade bread fresh out of the oven slathered in butter.

*chomp*

Carbs + Fat = Donloree in a blissful food coma

This would be why I have a Pinterest board called, ‘Look, but don’t eat!‘

• What’s one nickname you have?

D-Lo!

• What’s the best thing you did in 2011?

I am proud of many, many things from 2011; but by far the best thing I did was getting my health back. I am so happy to be living and have the opportunity to be fat and sassy *ahem* lean and mean.

If you don’t have your health you can’t fully enjoy all that life has to offer.

More living, much less dying!

What about you? 

I answered the random, non-bodybuilding questions; now it is your turn! I love giving people nicknames and if you don’t tell me what your nickname is, I will give you one and you will just have to like it.

Just ask Kori, aka ‘KSnAP‘.

Your turn!

A rather odd thing to muse on unless you are starving and contemplating eating them and their door frame friends too! When 11:00 rolled around and I got to have my late morning snack of a rice cake and almond butter, I was relieved but not satisfied.

I am suffering from severe Rice Cake Envy.

Both Kathleen and Kori have mentioned their love of chocolate rice cakes. As any good dieting competitor would do, I promptly went in search of them to bring home and immediately smother in a nut butter.

I came home empty handed. THREE TIMES.

These women live in America; the land of chocolate rice cakes.

I live in Canada; the land of plain, salted popcorn, caramel, kettle corn, chocolate caramel, dill, sour cream, cheddar, and salt and vinegar rice cakes.

No chocolate.

Ummm..delicious! Need I say more?

At  1 protein, 11 carbs, and 1 fat they would be a decadent treat for me. Add a tablespoon of nut butter on top of it and I would be in heaven.

Where does a good Canadian girl find these illicit, decadent, and reasonable carb chocolate rice cakes?

I am putting out an official Donloree SOS.

HELP!

The smile that crossed my face when I read the news threatened to break my face in half.

She is doing this thing.

Many people congratulated her and cheered with me as we celebrated her decision and commitment. One person who participated in the cheering decided that she would like success but isn’t worth it.

It went  something like this….

‘Congratulations. I am so proud of you. You can do anything…I wish I could do that too.‘

When told she could do it and that anything was possible, she responded in a way that made my heart sink.

‘No. I can’t. I suck and could never do it.‘

I wanted to reach into my computer screen and shake her.

Shake her HARD.

The urge to reach into the computer and shake her until her brain hurt more than just a wee bit was nearly palpable in my living room. I put my hands on my hips and sputtered out loud to no one in particular, ‘What sucks is your attitude. You are right. You are NEVER going to go anywhere thinking like that!”

My index finger started to waggle in frustration as I reread the post.

This is not going to come as a surprise, but I am an all or nothing kind of a woman. This is why I love bodybuilding. Workout, get fit, get healthy? Sure. I will see your healthy lifestyle and raise you an intense diet, fake tan, stripper heels, and bedazzled bikini.

Anything worth doing is worth DOING.

For years I decided to be right about being overweight, unhealthy, and unable to achieve my dreams in any area of my life.

• Everything was impossible, and I was right.

Now when I tell myself that something CAN be done and that I was ‘doing this thing‘…guess what?

• Everything is possible, and I am right.

What you tell yourself matters.

Change your mind, change your world.

Choose to see what can be and chase it down with your whole heart.

What are you going to be right about?

For the past year I have had a lot of carbs, so this reduction in carbs is a bit of a shock to my system

Nobody panic.

• I have a refeed day.
• We are in the healthy range of macros and calories.
• Joe has a master plan and I am implementing like a dieting maven.
• There will be no killing of Donloree.

I haven’t dieted for a long time…I forgot how focussed it can be.

Buh-bye post workout apple!

Yes. I am the woman that eats cold chicken at 8:30 in the change room.

I have no shame.

To keep me focussed and motivated, I have a new mantra.

What I lack in carbs, I make up for in heart!

Heck, I am even contemplating getting it put on a workout top!

What’s your mantra?

After a huge, tedious, and epic uphill battle, these health issues are behind me or under control:

• Severe anemia
• Hashimoto
• Estrogen insufficiency
• Secondary Addison’s /Adrenal Insufficiency
• Wonky thyroid

My body did more dying than living.

Not only do I get my life back, but I get to compete again. The starting point is not pretty, but it is where I am and I sincerely could not be happier.

I spent the last 15 months getting my health back, training as much as my body would let me, counting every macro, and learning about what is truly important in life.

Due to the amount of weight my body required to get healthy again, it is going to be a long prep. I will be competing in the October 2012 show with the INBF which is anywhere from 38 to 40 weeks from now.

40 weeks is a long time!

Tara and I were chatting on Twitter about how professional competitors spout that you only need 8 to 12 weeks to get ready for the next show…which is true if you are disciplined after your competition and your body agrees with the plan.

My body did not agree.

I would not trade the lessons I have learned, the people I have met, or how I have grown during this epic season of my life.

Yesterday I was musing about how I could have chosen a different path 15 months ago and posted this on my Facebook Page:

There is a difference between intention and direction. Intention is what you want, direction is where you are going. Don’t be surprised at where you are, actively choose where you want to be and go there. Say no to things that are not your dream, purpose, and passion and say YES to who and what you are designed to be. The conditions are never perfect and now IS the time.

I could have given up, dove head first into the food, stopped training, and decided my business needed to be put on the shelf….that I would just wait until it was easier. Something compelled me to move forward every single day. A millimetre of movement in the right direction is still progress.

Not only did I grow mental muscles, I grew actual muscle!

You have to love the 'I'm sitting on the bathroom counter after sweating like crazy' self portrait progress pictures. I full out scared a few women at the YMCA that morning.

I will post official starting pictures soon, but I know there is some muscle hiding under that fat. Heck, I can even see a few back muscles starting to show.

Where are you going?

It may be dark, hard, and seem interminable but you are going somewhere. You have the choice to be passively pushed somewhere or actively choose your destination.

Stop wishing and hoping. Choose it and make it happen, even if it is one millimetre at a time.

So where are you going now?

Successful people start somewhere and they keep going and going and going.

It ain’t pretty. In fact pretty is not a word I would use to describe the path to success.

Other words come to mind.

• Messy
• Confusing
• Scary
• Hard
• Quasi disastrous

The conditions are never perfect and NOW rarely feels right.

How long are you going to wait to start building the life, health, relationships, and job of your dreams?

Scared? 

Good. It means you’re not dead.

Do it afraid.

That being said, there aren’t that many women in the weight area most mornings. The very few of us that train on a regular basis have come to be accepted as part of the scene by the men that dominate the weights.

I know because I get the casual head cocked to the left chin up greeting most mornings.

I have become as interesting to them as the lat pull down machine, which is fine by me. I do my thing, they do their thing, and rarely do the paths cross unless we are fighting over the only power rack at the YMCA.

On Monday a strange, heavily muscled man insisted on doing chin ups in the power rack even though there are three other places chin ups can be done.

Monday is Leg Day.

I need that power rack and I will fight tooth and nail to get it.

DL – (unplugging one ear bud) Hey. Sorry to be a bother, I know how annoying this question is, but how many more sets do you have?

Strange, Heavily Muscled Man – (french accent) Oh, just a few. You can work in. Don’t worry about it. I will pull up and you use the squat rack.

DL – Umm..ok then…this should be interesting. Do you want to use a different location for chin ups? There are a few more around that aren’t being used.

Strange, Heavily Muscled Man  - No. I use this one.

DL - I’m doing box squats…this should be hilarious.

With more than a few reservations as to how this would work, I set up my bar, added my warm up weight, and grabbed a box to do my squats. After my first warm up set I found myself trapped in the cage with the strange, heavily muscled man completing chin ups behind me.

I ducked under the safeties and watched from a distance.

While he was distracted by low rows and barbell upright rows, I worked my pyramid for strength on the box squat. I was going for a personal best on the last set of two.

During my set of 12 reps, while sweat was rolling down my back and off my elbows, a french accented cheer went up and I nearly lost the bar off my back due to surprise.

Strange, heavily muscled man was back.

This time he didn’t do chin ups. He helped me load more weight on my bar and then proceeded to do military overhead presses with it.

Seriously?

I had been feeling good about my box squat weight, that was until the strange, heavily muscled man threw it over his head like it was a kitten.

This went on for three more progressively heavy sets.

I finally out squatted his over head press abilities and he moved to barbell bicep curls. On my last set where I was just killing it, my new found friend came back to bark instructions at me.

It was very annoying, oddly encouraging, and in some strange way appreciated and not.

185 pounds...not too shabby for a woman with pencil legs if I say so myself! Room to grow, that is for sure!

Luckily he didn’t see any need to help me with my SLDLs.

I grumped and complained about him and his ridiculous ways to my coach and received a most hilarious response.

Strange men are necessary sometimes…that may be one of the weirdest things I’ve ever typed…

YES!

The very next day, I could have used his help when I attempted my 50lb db chest press. I actually looked around to see if there was anyone that could help me. There was no one I felt comfortable asking; so I did what I could but I know I didn’t give it everything.

An ‘All the way! Up, up, UP!!‘ in a french accent from a strange, heavily muscled man would have been beneficial.

Heck as if I knew!

How do you ask for spots from the men at the gym?

All you need to do is take this:

Awkward, but brilliant.

And modify it for this:

A staple for most competitors...at least this one!

And if you want to make an elite or special edition version, create one with a small leak proof snap on container that holds 1 tbsp of nut butter in it. Oh, and a wee little knife that snaps onto the case will make us deliriously happy.

You will be a bazillionaire once you are ‘discovered‘ by the crazy world of bodybuilding.

Heck, no need to be discovered; I will tell them all about you.

Who’s on it?

The truth be told, I could totally see this happening to me. In fact, equally hilarious and horrible things have happened to me many, many times.

I watched it and immediately showed it to my very nice husband.

• My response: Gasping for air while laughing hysterically. Words were not required.
• My husband’s response: Oh no! Are they ok? What happened to their head? Oh no….ouch!

While he furrowed his brow and asked appropriate, kind hearted questions I watched it again and again and got the best ab workout I’ve had in awhile.

I am obviously going to hell.

You coming with?

Spending hours answering questions for a new competitor never bothers me. I have answered the same questions over and over and over again.

• How do you plan your meals?
• Where do you buy your ‘stripper shoes’ from?
• How do you organize your day?
• Where do you grocery shop?
• How do you eat on plan but still be social?
• I’m freaking out. How do you not freak out?
• How do you pick a bikini?
• Who do you train with and why?
• What does your breakfast look like?
• How do you split your macros up?
• What supplements do you take and how much of each?
• How do you keep track of workouts, food, and goals?
• Hair removal….?

They can even ask me what I am eating and I won’t get offended. On a rare occasion, I have even been known to let them sample my food.

Even if it is all measured and planned, I would share with a fellow competitor now and again...but no one else!

You’re pretty darned special if I let you taste my food.

Emails, coffee dates, phone calls, and connecting competitors to resources and people I think could help them out is something I don’t mind doing at all.

Why?

I remember what it was like at the starting line feeling alone and completely lost as I started out on the journey to my first competition with only Google and more misinformation than one woman needs in a lifetime to guide me.

I don’t have all the answers, not even close.

What I do have is more experience, success, and information than some people and I am happy to share what I have with them. When you share your success, it creates room for more in your life.

Who doesn’t want more success?

I work with some of the most amazing experts in the industry and am learning on a daily basis from them. An epic turning point in my training and success was when I started dieting with Joe Klemczewski and training with his amazing partner in crime, Kori Propst. They have trained and dieted HUNDREDS of natural pro competitors and lead the charge in science based training and nutrition.

Don’t believe the lie that just because you haven’t ‘arrived‘ that you have nothing to give to people. There are so many people where where you once were in all aspects of life. Your trials, successes, and failures make you an amazing mentor and inspiration to many people.

Share, grow, and learn with the people around you.

I do have to warn you that this may result in bringing your spare set of ‘stripper shoes‘ to the YMCA at 6 am to lend to a friend.

Who DOESN'T have a pair of these in their gym bag?

Learn, grow, and give…I think this may become my motto for 2012.

Who’s your expert? Who’s expert are you?