This one time, at Mike Davies Fitness Camp...

The beginning is as good a place to start as any.

But I'd rather not. Under normal circumstances, given this is a new blog, I'd probably go into some long, drawn-out history about my family, my eating disorder, how I got started in the fitness industry, and anything else I feel like you should know if you want to start reading about me and following my journey. At this particular moment though, I don't have the patience. Google Me. In the meantime, hope you can be content with a "selfie" from last week in my bathroom.  

The reason I'm starting an online blog is because typing is much easier than writing by hand in a journal, and I'm on the computer more often than I'm in front of a pad of paper. In addition, writing my thoughts down in my little notebook, albeit more private, isn't what I'm about. For the last couple of years, my life has been an open book. People ask, I answer. Even when they don't ask, I answer anyway. See, while I'm only 25, and don't claim to have grown up "on the wrong side of the tracks" or lived a "hard knock life", I have been dealt a couple bad hands. I'm not afraid to expose myself (I guess both physically and emotionally). The way I see it, I'm not the only one who has ever experienced hardship at the hands of the Man Upstairs, but I am willing to be the voice of those people who don't feel like talking about it. The ones who can't find someone in their real life to relate to, or who think they're the only ones going through adversity. This blog is for those people.

My goal is to show the rough side of this sport. The side you don't often see when you look at professional physique athletes. The binges, the self-sabotage, the isolation, and the tough losses. In all honesty, I have competed 10 times, I'm one of the Top 20 trainers in Canada, and I train under a couple of the best/brightest coaches in the industry - AND I STILL MESS UP! Consistently. That's what this blog is for - to talk to you guys about it, and eventually get over it and get on stage.
I guess I'm not portraying my sport/passion in the best light, eh? Well, I can assure you it has its upsides, too... Like the fact that I can include IFBB Pros among the friends I've made in this industry (hello, name-dropping!)

This weekend, I attended Mike Davies' Fitness Factory Bootcamp on behalf of Muscle Insider magazine. Seeing all those women, IFBB Pros and amateurs alike, and being around that kind of competitive energy, just lit a huge fire under my ass. Seeing how seriously these women take their contest diets/training programs, including the Pros who are in their off-season (which is just as important as the dieting phase!), helped me solidify where I want my competitive career to go. Guess that'll be the topic of the next blog ;-) Til then...


** I will be posting accountability pics/weight weekly from now until my show. If I can't get half naked in front of you guys, how will I be able to do it in front of an audience of people?!