Skinny Fat Does Exist

10 / 29 / 096 / 27 / 18

In the October 2009 issue of Oxygen Magazine (one of my favs!) there was an article by publisher Robert Kennedy titled “Are You Skinny Fat?”

It really resonated with me because at 27 I had become a skinny fat girl. I have always been tiny. Years of ballet, dance, musical theatre, cheerleading, being busy, eating relatively healthy and a fast metabolism kept me in the thin, “skinny”, svelte world. Then bam. I turned a year older, a year wiser and my metabolism said: “Enough is enough”. Time to slow ‘er down.

I ate what I want over the winter of 2008/2009. Microwave bags of popcorn for dinner, ice cream late at night, wine and cheese, muffins and cookies galore at office meetings, bagels, and cream cheese for breakfast. Barely any fiber, fresh produce or healthy carbs. It didn’t seem that bad to me. I never considered myself a binge eater or overindulged. I just didn’t “watch” what I ate because I didn’t think I had to.

My condo has an indoor pool and one day in December 2008 I decided to go swimming. I checked out my butt in the mirror as all girls do and I gasped. Did I, the skinny girl, have cellulite. Umm… no way. It’s the mirror. I continued to say oh it’s fine I can keep going like I normally do. I scheduled a photo shoot in January 2009 where I would be doing implied nudes in dancer poses. I told the photographer to give me 2 weeks after the Xmas holidays to hit the gym. Really? That’s all you need girl? Sure!!! I did the photo shoot saw the photos and went home crying. My abs were not attractive. I didn’t take good pictures and I knew it.

I had become skinny fat. I knew it. When I read the article from Oxygen this summer one sentence reminded me of my winter moments before my fitness AHA moment. “Incredibly even though both women were thin his forefinger sank into a sea of fat.” My boyfriend could grip my love handles and I had had enough. Then my fitness why happened. Check out one of my first blog post for that.

So below are two of my first before pictures taken. I wanted to make sure I documented the change. The changes were slow in the beginning. I did a lot of cardio since I had developed quite a lot of “fat” for my body. The hips slimmed down, the thighs carved up and I lost 2 cup sizes. Now my abs are starting to come in, my thighs are becoming more muscular, I’m building a butt shelf and I have tickets to the gun show! Just kidding! But the biceps are coming in quite nicely!

If I could do it over again I would’ve started lifting weights much more at the primary stages to build the muscle underneath as I was able to shed the fat in as little as 3 months. Now I’m what I would consider tiny again but having a heck of a time building the muscle now. I’m so proud of what I’ve been able to do over a short 8 months and hope I can inspire at least one person (even another skinny fat girl) to take initiative and get fit or just take care of their health.

Before:

After: Three Fitness Competition Photos from 2009

While my fitness why was completely based on vanity. I’m so glad I’ve started a fitness journey towards becoming healthier.

My Social Media Tools

10 / 28 / 0911 / 25 / 09

Here are the ways that I stay up-to-date on a daily basis on my world around me.

Facebook: Some people take smoke breaks. I take FB breaks. I leave the FB window open all day on my internet browser and can see if I’m getting facebook chat messages, new notifications or mail, etc.

Twitter

Tweetdeck: Desktop application that allows me to view my following feed, @ replies, DMs, find potential new follows and a facebook feed

Ubertwitter: BlackBerry phone app that let’s me keep up w/ Twitter while I’m on the go. Subway morning reading to see what happened while I was sleeping and checking in the evenings before I go to sleep.

Brizzly: A web based application that allows me to group who I’m following on Twitter. In theory great idea, haven’t implemented it yet.

ENewsletters

Adnews: Everything from brand campaigns to website sponsorships to who’s hiring who in the advertising/marketing landscape

Media In Canada: New campaign launches, new media initiatives and info about top shows and advertisers on radio or TV

Marketing Magazine Online: Organized by Agency News, Marketer News, Media News, PR News, Awards and Letters to the Editor

Blogs

Google Reader: Gotta stay current on my lifestyle reads. My favourites are Coco & Lowe, The Broken Heel Diaries, What Women Want, Oxygen Mag’s The Real Deal and Dj Lissa Monet. I also indulge in The Segment, her lil black book, hey do you, sugarshock beauty blog, no one likes a smart ass, and beautygeeks.

I am shying away from adding anything new to my current list as it already takes up a lot of my time. So I need a new invention or someone to read everything and condense it for me 🙂

Third Time’s A Charm

10 / 27 / 0911 / 2 / 09

I now have 3 fitness competitions under my belt. 8 months of experimenting with fitness training, meal planning and supplement taking to achieve a goal.

Contest #1: WBFF World Championships – Mississauga, Ontario – September 19, 2009

I decided to enter one of the biggest competitions in Toronto, let alone Canada as my first competition. Ok so I aim high! I was nervous, crazy excited and had no idea what to expect. Thank goodness I was able to experience the competition with a fellow Hourglass Workout girl, Chivon John and my personal trainer Lyzabeth Lopez. They kept me sane, gave me pep talks, took pictures with me for our standard facebook picture albums and kept me calm in the change-room.

I was competing in the Diva Bikini Model category. When I first registered for the contest I was under the assumption that there would be a pro category and an open (amateur) category. Although I may have a lot of self-confidence competing against fitness models that have been on the cover of Oxygen Magazine several times is a tiny bit intimidating. Ok so it caused me to have a slight panic attack. They had merged the category together and I found out the night before at the Athlete’s Meeting. So I think I psyched myself out a little bit. Ok I totally psyched myself out of the competition.

I tried my best to rock it on stage but I knew that my attitude had changed. It showed in my walk and on my face and I was further disappointed to find out that I didn’t place top 10 which had been my goal. I could’ve given up at this point and said meh I competed on stage. I have changed my fitness and health around. I have a great new body and I conquered fears of appearing on stage and rocked the stage in an itty bitty bikini. I licked my wounds, got some much needed confidence back and set my sights on my next competition.

Contest #2: Flex Bikini Contest – Las Vegas, Nevada – September 25, 26, 2009

Ok so the Hourglass family decided to head down to the Olympia weekend in Vegas. If you know bodybuilding this is one of the events to be at during the year. Flex Magazine hosts a Bikini Model Search every year so I thought sure! Why not! I arrived to find out I was competing against 90 other competitors. Gasp! And there goes that twinge that is telling my confidence to drop. Pause. Take a deep breath you can do this. I had already paid my entry fee, booked a spray tanning w/ Pro Tan and brought my bikini with me. No way was I backing out on this one. The best part of my experience was having my girls Chynna Chung and Chivon John smiling up at me from the stage. They snuck into VIP seating (shhh!) and sat right behind the judge’s table so I couldn’t miss them. It’s thanks to them I was able to beam on stage. I found the girls in this competition quite tight in their physiques. I also wasn’t aware of the online voting part of the contest so I have a better strategy for next year 😉 No top 16 placement but still a great experience, hot photos from the stage and a great chance to meet girls backstage from all over the world. The competitor behind me was from France so I got to practice my bilingualism backstage. Time to head back to Toronto and re-focus for my 3rd competition.

Contest #3: UFE Halloween Mayhem – Hamilton, Ontario – October 24, 2009

My experience at UFE Halloween Mayhem was a positive, fun, learning, exhausting and overall great experience. I had returned from Vegas having caught a nasty bug on the plane ride home. No more red eye flights for me. I wasn’t able to workout for a week after returning and was scared I wouldn’t be ready in time. I had 3 weeks to revamp the bod for Oct 24 and I trained hard. My first week back in the gym I had a weird time training certain muscles. I would work out my back and my shoulders would hurt the next day. Focus on my glutes and have inner thighs screaming. The last two weeks before UFE went by smoothly. The meal plan was back in effect, the muscles were hurting in the right place, I had a great costume idea being made and my focus and goal of placing top 10 was still in my brain.

I was able to experience this contest with my training partner Gule Sheikh. We met this summer during a Fitness Model Workshop, ran by, of course, the lovely Lyzabeth Lopez, and started a couple of personal training sessions with Lyzabeth together. We drove down Friday morning, had fun getting spray tanned together, making jokes about being water depleted and had a great chance to enjoy the experience. The atmosphere at UFE was so much different than WBFF and Flex. There were friendly faces backstage, great friends competing together and an organized show with a schedule that all competitors were made aware of well in advance. I felt confident knowing what was going on and could focus on performing well onstage. I rocked the Bikini Model round in a butterfly costume and was able to stand out on stage enough to place number 9! I don’t really care what number it was. It was Top 10. My goal accomplished. I could smile and enjoy the placing!

My List of Gym Do’s & Dont’s

10 / 11 / 0910 / 11 / 09

After spending countless hours in the gym over the past year I’ve seen my share of weird stuff, gross stuff and some nice things as well. Here is my list of Gym Do’s & Dont’s. Hopefully you get a kick out of these, can totally relate or maybe see something you do and didn’t realize others may be making fun of you on blogs, twitter or facebook. Just looking out for all the gym peeps 🙂

1. Cardinal Rule Number 1: Wear Deodarant. ‘Nuff Said.

2. Making Weird Noises throughout your entire set. I totally understand the need to grunt to finish of a heavy set sometimes. But there is this one gentleman at my gym who grunts despite the set, despite the number of reps. Mind you he’s wearing headphones and may not be aware of the caveman status I have given him but it’s awkward for the rest of the gym goers to witness this manly display of exertion.

3. Working In. The term used when you see someone on the machine you want to use and ask them to work in. In other words share the machine. You could receive the answer: “I’ve only got one more set”. Cool. “I’ll wait until your done” scenario happens. If they’ve just started then they should allow you to share the machine. I do one set. You do one set. So on and so forth. If they say no and look like they might eat you, probably best to just move along and avoid problem.

4. Carry a Towel. The gym I work out at provides them in the change room and on the gym floor. There is no reason why you shouldn’t have one with you to put on the bench or wipe up your sweat after a set. I don’t care if you think you didn’t sweat. I don’t want the heeby jeebies on the bench no matter how hot you are 🙂

5. Put the Weights Back. One time I had to remove six 45 plates off the leg press. I wanted to thank the guy for the amazing arm workout I was getting in on my leg day. Always leave the plate machines with nothing on them. Easy? Cool.

6. Cover Up. Ok so you’re back in the gym. You’re getting the body that you want. Now you’re going to flaunt it. Totally understand the need for tank tops in the gym to allow free arm movement. But ladies. Common sense. No need to work out in sports bras and cause distractions in the gym for men. Just throw on a tight tank and you’re good to go. Same thing men. Those hanging muscle tanks that allow me to see both pecs. Save it for another time. Now back in the changeroom I also have a beef with all you ladies who like to wander in the nude. I’m sure this happens in the men’s as well. Good for you being proud of your free status but just cover it up. I’m not a prude. But you might be offending someone else. I just don’t wanna see it. K?

7. Fix Bad Form. Ask a trainer for tips, or an experienced gym goer if you’re not sure. Just suck it up and ask. Because if I see bad form again I’m not going to look the other way. What you’re doing won’t improve your physique and it may hurt you. So there is controversy on whether people should offer form advice. The general rule is no but next time I’m just not going to be able to let it slide. It hurts me to watch and it’s going to hurt you in the end. I’ll try and just whisper the advice so noone notices.

8. Mirror Staring. You are allowed to check your progress in the mirror. Just try and avoid the stare that goes over 5 mins and has you lifting up your shirt to check out the abs in public 😉

That’s all for now folks. Happy Gyming.

Why did I become a media planner?

10 / 7 / 09

I have been on a blogging hiatus. We could chalk it up to writer’s block or lack of creativity or busy time period at work. But I’m back. Pondering why did I choose the career path I have taken so far.

I graduated from University with the I’m going to rule the business world mentality. I’m still working on it but slightly milder and meek in my approach to learning and climbing the corporate ladder. I’m listening and watching and truly hungry to learn.

When I started out in the summer of 2005 after having turned down a great paying opportunity and going through interview after interview I was getting frustrated. I hadn’t really thought about my future after 4th year as I had been so involved extracurricularly that I could barely think straight. When my first company decided to take me on as their sole sales rep I jumped at the chance and the opportunity. I learn how to be savvy, read people, get out of my shell and go for the things I really want. I was meeting with media planners and they had the ball in their court. So pretty much I just told myself “you need to become a media planner”. They hold all the cards. Yes I’m a naive little thing.

I love my days. I love the juggling. I love the people interaction. Internal meetings, client meetings, and working with creative agencies. I love working with the numbers. Yes I may be running a high fever. But when the numbers work out and I can plan a campaign that matches the budget and accomplishes the media objectives it’s my tiny little triumph for the day. It’s the feeling that makes me get up and go back into the office every day. I love the challenge of new media. I like reading about new campaigns and new uses of technology to engage consumers.

So after making the leap and joining the ranks of media planner, strategists or just plain old planners I’m yet again faced with who really has the reigns. Do marketing departments have the top hat? And if so why do they hold their cards so close to their chest instead of truly trusting their partners to have their best interests in mind?

Company sales are our goals too. Trust us and involve us in your business. Please and Thank You.

[I now work for a full service agencies where the client holds out the entire deck of cards!]