Granola was calling me from the depths of my pantry the other night. It wasn’t literally calling me in the way that I actually heard voices, but it was calling me through my soul. Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Most people might remember as kids, running as hard…

I mark my time in segments of what I can eat and when. Looking at the clock — or my watch — I think: how many carbs have I eaten so far? How many do I have left? What can I eat in the next 15 minutes? You would think…

When my youngest daughter was in elementary school and on her first competition cheer team, she overheard another mom say that she wanted to buy all of the girls medals. “This way, when we don’t win in the competition, they won’t feel bad for walking away with nothing. …

“Then all of a sudden she stopped with a jerk. She simply could not go another inch. She tried and she tried, but her wheels would not turn.” ~ From The Little Engine That Could “The best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost A few years ago I saw an advertisement for an event not far from my house — an annual program of firewalking. I had secretly always wanted…

Now that I’m prepping for the next show I’m trying to focus on getting a little leaner. In some ways this seems crazy because I am already the leanest I have ever (been as an adult). As a kid I was skinny. I was so skinny I was teased about…

55,57,58,60,63,64,66! A tall-ish guy in a fitted black polo carrying a clipboard was booming out numbers. My number had been called. I was 63. Okay. Here we go. The bikini competitors were forming a line down the hallway leading to the stage. We were in a high school, but it…

“I look like an Oompa Loompa.” The makeup artist had just finished doing her work and I gazed back at myself in the mirror. My face was orange — like tangerine, Oompa Loompa orange. All I needed was green hair and a catchy little tune and dance. “Yes, that’s a…

It’s the middle of the night in the hotel and I have to pee. Peak week protocol had me drinking two gallons of water a day (or close to it) and now I am drinking one gallon a day. …

“Trust the process.” I see this written, posted, commented with, over and over again. Every time I am scrolling through social media and see another bodybuilder post about how she doesn’t feel she is progressing enough, every time I see a Reddit post where someone is worried they are gaining…