Client Spotlight, a series- Meet Magda the magnificent.

I am back to showcase another amazing client. It is also a testimonial to how important it is to hire a qualified coach for long term success. ENJOY !

Tonight I want you to meet Magda Usyk

Let’s go!

Thank you for doing this Magda.

First of all, who are you?

👉🏻Magda Usyk, sharing time between being a mother to an incredible teenager and being a professional in the Oil and Gas industry.

What are your goals?

👉🏻Hypertrophy (with a bit of conditioning).

How long have we worked together?

👉🏻My journey with you dates back to 2008.
Post partum, I was determined to get back into my pre-pregnancy shape.
I needed guidance and quick results.

You were my ticket to “rocking body” and physical self esteem.
Despite staying active my commitment to a consistent schedule was sporadic due to parenting, work, finances, and injuries (running, skiing, etc).

This changed 3 years ago after a sprained MCL. I reached out to you to help me recover and also prepare for a beach volleyball season (3 months post injury). It was a success. Whenever something happens now I call you and we work around sprains/injuries keeping the momentum.

Since then my goals shifted to hypertrophy. For the last 2 years I have been consistent and follow “Deanna’s plan” – it finally clicked – eat, sleep, lift. I now have the results I wanted 12 years ago. I wish I listened to her then.

“Deanna is one of the BEST investments I have made.”

👉🏻Thank you so much for this Magda..

I love watching you succeed in all your fitness goals.. and I am so excited to keep helping you build your body and self confidence!!

Client Spotlight… a series.

Ever since Covid-19 hit I got busy transitioning 80% of my training to online. After 22 years coaching people 1-1 on the weight room floor, I was in new territory. I decided I would start a weekly client spotlight on my Facebook Page where I could show case some of the amazing humans I have been able to work with. Now, I realize they need a permanent space, here on my blog. So here we go, a series of client spotlights, which it turns out, are also a testimonial of my work!! COOL!

Let me introduce you to some of my people, and if you are ready to begin your health and fitness journey with a coaching relationship- may this be your sign! x

Client Spotlight: Cathy

Meet Cathy Goulet! 😍

Cathy is an entrepreneur, married for 32 years to a lovely man, has four children and 10 grandbabies.

Me: So who are you?? ☺️

Cathy: I am a 58, sporadically fit and sporadically not fit woman. Right now I am not.

Me: Thank-you for allowing me to show case you here Cathy, so, what are your goals?

Cathy: Goals? I am looking down the road at another phase of life. Sporadic fitness has left me with some structural problems. Moving too quickly from unfit to very fit, sucking it up and working through the pain over and over is getting harder and harder to recover from. My goal is to build function and strength that serves me well. I want to be a strong, healthy Nana who dances at my grandbabies weddings well into my ‘80s.”

Me: Why is hiring a coach important?

Cathy: A coach provides balance and designs programs that work with my body, not against it. As an entrepreneur, with a demanding travel and work schedule, I need a coach who takes time to understand what is doable for me and to keeps me real.

———————————-

Right now, for Cathy we have started her back to training with weights 2 times a week. I programmed her workouts to help her strengthen her core, knees, and overall vitality !

Cathy was asking for 5 workouts a week.. when I got deeper into her coaching consult, I realized more isn’t better for Cathy. All or nothing leads to well.... nothing. She was used to running races which left her with injuries and so.... she needed to be open to change her fitness routine.

We started small, and now we have room to progress. We also have the love of wine in common! 🍷

Small changes leads to HUGE wins in 3-6-12 months from now.

Love my career!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

5 things I wished I would have known before I did a Figure Competition.

5 things I wished I would have known before I did a Figure Competition; a few thoughts from an airplane.

1. You will never look at food the same way again. Food now is just protein, carbs and fats. Food is more about function than pleasure. You will no longer just go out for a meal and allow someone to order for you. You will not be able to sit back and enjoy food. This would be very stressful for me.

2. You will never look at your body the same. Once you have been extremely lean, anything else is “fat” or “ out of shape”. Even if you are leaner than 80% of the population, you just aren’t hard core enough. I would check for my abs 100X a day. Getting them was so gratifying, keeping them was exhausting. Losing the sight of them was devastating. You will always compare yourself to how you looked on stage in 2013 for 5 minutes and forever keep those photo’s in your iphone and feel ashamed.

3. You will have to water load, take diuretics and then go without water to dry out and it is horrible. You will be lying on the floor half naked with 100 other tanned half naked women so you don’t ruin your spray tan. Oh the spray tan- the freezing cold spray tan where you stand naked in tents with all the other bodybuilders- male and female while you dry. No one even bats an eye! Annnnnd we ladies- have to pee into a paper funnel so you don’t sprinkle or drip on your tan! It’s a trip! 

4. Your parents, friends and family do not want to spend $60 to wait 3 hours before it’s your turn to go on stage only to watch you flex for 5 minutes. Don’t invite them. 😂

5. You will never be good enough. Even if you place 1st, you will want to get right back in the gym to improve - and for what? A little trophy and some free protein powder. I spent thousands of dollars on my competitions and I didn’t get much in return for my hard work and money. In fact, I could have easily just trained and got in really good shape to go an a beach vacation. 

**Bonus: you will find yourself posing like a figure competitor in every photo - it’s still my go to way to stand for the camera and it is so annoying! 

Many of you may disagree but your opinion is not mine.
I appreciate the full experience regardless of the negative aftermath. Those Figure Competitions proved to me that I could do hard things! I followed a goal until the end, even when it was hard and I wanted to quit. I didn’t quit.
-
For that I am grateful.

Eating Disorders in the Fitness Culture

I spoke on @ctvedmonton during Eating Disorder Awareness week about my obsession with exercise.

I would work out for hours a day.  This included fasted cardio before a full day of training clients, because that was what I thought I needed to do to be a successful fitness leader. I would lift weights on my break in between clients. I was exhausted and I felt like exercise controlled my life.

My body was still never good enough. My personal relationships were suffering because I was choosing the gym over all other social outings. I would always feel anxious about eating at restaurants where I couldn't control exactly what was in my food. I didn't drink wine, which I LOVE!! 🍷❤️ I got help, and everything changed. I started to question my relationship with exercise, decided that in order for me to run a successful business, stay sane and healthy, I just couldn't continue training for hours a day. 😖😖😖😭😭

Fast forward to Saturday morning.  🤙🏻🤙🏻 On days like today I feel SO empowered by short and INTENSE workouts that make me feel fit, stay healthy and strong AF without having to spend all day in the gym. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 On April 7, Katie Chamberlain has put together a seminar,  along with the help of a Psychologist and a RD, to discuss Eating disorders and Excercise Dependance-when does something healthy become not so good?? 😔😔😔😔 Please see the Eventbrite link below. Is it time you questioned your relationship with exercise? Are you training to burn calories or to earn your food for later? Do you feel like you have to train in order to eat? Can you take at least one full rest day a week or does the idea of rest make you anxious? 😎 Let's have a talk. We want to help. Love you, Deanna

I gained weight..... I did it on purpose.

I am celebrating weight gain. What? Really Deanna? How can you celebrate weight gain in a world where we are told to lose weight and stay small?

WRONG!

I have been gaining weight on purpose, and here is why you may want to do the same;

More muscle is always the answer.

If you are looking to put on muscle mass you may have to get comfortable with seeing the numbers on the scale go up.

Seeing the scale jump may scare you, but listen ladies, that doesn’t mean you have to get “fat" or "bulky" or whatever term you use when you think of someone gaining weight.

Dialing in your calorie intake and training so you are gaining at a rate of 0.5-1% body weight per month is a nice sustainable guideline.

This slow and steady rate will minimize fat gain, but you will gain some fat. (and fat isn't bad)

Currently I don’t count calories. Perhaps if I did I would optimize my muscle growth, but it just doesn’t fit my lifestyle right now as a former chronic dieter. Instead I hit a protein goal, eat intuitively, and take my weight once a month. From there I adjust intake up or down. This could look like an extra scoop of whey protein, or 4 oz of meat, with a couple of rice cakes or a large piece of fruit.

I train 6 days a week, for 45 minutes each session, including my Sunday Lift and Bitch workout with Feminist Figure Girl. We like to split the workouts into body parts. Chest and arms, Back/Deadlifts, Glutes- Hamstring focus, Shoulders, and Legs- quad focus. I only do cardio ( sprints) 1 day a week, but I walk as much as possible.

Takeaways:

-Weight is just a number, it doesn’t define who you are

-If you are looking to put on mass, embrace the new number. and yes, a new clothing size.

-Lifting weights does not make you bulky. (Eating too much makes you bulky)

-Aim for 0.5%-1% increase in body weight per month while eating and training for lean gains.

If I am feeling hungrier on training days, like I mentioned above, I will eat more food. Sometimes I add an extra serving of carbs post workout. ( 1/2 cup oats or a banana) some evenings I drink wine....it is about moderation of all foods.

Your body will need more or less depending on the intensity and duration of your  workouts.

Pick a goal, get a solid plan from a credentialed coach, eat and train, get plenty of sleep and watch what happens.

CONSISTENCY, CONSISTENCY, CONSISTENCY!

Let's GO!

xFitbabe

Sculpting the Body as a Masterpiece, Sweating Against the “Masculine Domination”

La Bèstia, FFG and Fitbabe met for Lift and Bitch on a Friday night...the last lift together before Christmas. #fridaynightfreakparty We decided to train legs...and normally, for anyone to SQUAT heavy after a long day , and week, one needs to dig bit deeper to muster up the energy for a successful workout.

We managed to get it all done before the gym closed early..

Here's the workout: ( we only had 45 minutes to smash this workout)

#quadzilla

A1) Squats 5x5/5/3/3/3 - we added weight every set. Isa topped out at 185lb and Deanna was happy with 135lb for 3 - Lianne did 115lb Earlier in the week with Dr. Ironcore (Andrea) so she didn’t feel like doing heavy squats tonight! 🏋🏻‍♀️

A2) Kettlebell goblet squats 4 x12- heels elevated - for the pump

B1) Split Squats 4x10 each leg B2) SS with Leg Extensions 4 x 12-15

C1)Dumbbell Squat jumps 3x20- holding the dumbbell between your legs

D1) Barbell walking lunges progressively adding weight- x15 each leg x 12 x10 x8

50/60/70/80lb

Converstaion included our thoughts on our collaboration that we Filmed at the University of Alberta on Wednesday. We were super happy with the way the video's were taken by an amazing and talented Canadian Visual Artist and Filmmaker called Kyle Terrence. http://www.kyleterrence.com/

We were able to show case the beauty and the beast like qualities a female depicts in the weight room. We demonstrated intense, heavy exercises while reciting quotes chosen by Isa.

Lifting heavy weights is not pretty. In fact, many of the images portray ugly faces, sweaty bodies, creases and curves of our bodies in unflattering positions.

There will be no editing, no photo-shopping, no filters.

I know that this performance will not interest the general population. I am aware that the physical culture is deemed weird, strange, and narcissistic.

If you find it gross, you simply are not our audience and this performance IS NOT FOR YOU!

We are only expressing the love we have for lifting weights. It’s about the journey to gaining muscle. It’s about the discipline and dedication it takes and we do not really care if we look weird. We are not trying to look pretty while doing so. 😂

I will leave you with a quote that I feel will resonate with many women. This quote was being read out loud while Isa performed HEAVY LATERAL RAISES TO FAILURE. I call them "reps to death"..... "A woman’s face must be made up, that is to say, made over, and so must her body: she is ten pounds overweight; her lips must be made more kissable, her complexion dewier, her eyes more mysterious. The “art” of makeup is the art of disguise, but this presupposes that a woman’s face, unpainted, is defective […] The strategy of much beauty-related advertising is to suggest to women that their bodies are deficient; but even without such more or less explicit teaching, the media images of perfect female beauty that bombard us daily leave no doubt in the minds of most women that they fail to measure up. The technologies for femininity are taken up and practiced by women against the background of a pervasive sense of bodily deficiency; this accounts for what is often their compulsive or even ritualistic character. The disciplinary project of femininity is a “setup”: it requires such radical and extensive measures of bodily transformation that virtually every woman who gives herself to it is destined in some degree to fail"

Schicktanz, Silke (2007) “Why the way we consider the body matters– Reflections on four bioethical perspectives on the human body”

I am not sorry I began my career in the weight room...it has given me such a gift. Competing in bodybuilding taught me so many lessons in which I use daily, and most of all, it brought Isa and Lianne into my life, which is the best gift one could have. Female bodybuilders have a special bond.

We will resume Lift and Bitch Sunday, Dec 30.

We hope you enjoy the workouts if you are doing them with us.

Merry Christmas.

Feminist Figure Girl, La Bestia, and Fitbabe

Body Image post Physique Competition

Lianne McTavish, Isa Fontbona and I are working on a Collaboration- An Autoethnography based on the Figure * in North America / Women’s Body Fitness division in Europe and the metamorphose leading up to competition. We are discussing our body image in our extremes and then in the current situation in which we live.

This sport is not for everyone. But if you separate the body you have on stage to be judged from the body which is healthy and living everyday life, you can compete and be mentally ok.

The problem lies when women/ men / all genders try and stay contest lean all year and forever !

Isa says “ I feel bewildered because neither my body on stage nor my body after competition corresponds with who I am”

Isa is in full Off season and plans to put on more size and strength coming into her next contest. She is working on her PHD and needs to focus on her studies.

Lianne however is not stressed at all by her “new size” or shape and enjoys being strong. **she also gave birth only a few years after her contest. She has no plans to compete again. Lianne is a Professor in the History of Art, Design and Visual Culture, and has authored the book of her transformation- Feminist Figure Girl - where she explores body image, fat studies, identity politics- a new way of thinking about feminism, the female culture and the female body.

Deanna - for me I struggle. I am a Personal Trainer and value the fit-lean physical body. I have had years where I stayed lean and was stubborn. I continued to eat and train like I was pre contest- and now I am suffering the consequences of hypothalamic amenorrhea, hormone issues and chronic fatigue. I am constantly comparing my body to my leanest and wake up daily wanting to dive back into a contest prep. But I quickly remind myself I like wine and sleeping in and having hormones that allow me to ovulate! 😂 So stay tuned if you are interested in our project.

We are all aware that our bodies on stage were not sustainable nor healthy. We know it is absolutely crucial that we remember it was a day to show case our body art - and that this extreme can’t be our new normal life.

Here is a photo of the three of us on competition day.

Here is a current photo from a #LIFTANDBITCH session last week.

Both of the bodies feel strange to ME.

Are you a Physique competitor struggling with your body image? Or have you been through a body transformation and find you can't maintain it unless you are restricting food and obsessing about exercise? If the body weight you are at right now is a result of restriction, obsessive exercise, and chronic stress, then, well...this is not a natural weight for you.

Hit reply and talk to me. I am here to help.

xFitbabe

A little #peptalk

#peptalk I don’t care what’s happening in your life today. It will get better.⠀ It gets better. I’ve been sick, really sick. I’ve been heart broken. #rip💔 I’ve battled some hard times, and have had times of feeling so hopeless.⠀

But, I know that I know, no matter what, it will get better. That’s what I learned from my hard times.

If you have a set back, trust now that it will always get better.

For today, all we have to do is:⠀ Show up. ⠀ Trust.⠀

Repeat.

If you need someone to talk to or are looking for a coach to get you on track..I am here.

XFitbabe

If your workout didn't burn calories, would you still do it?

“If you knew your exercise program didn’t burn any calories, would you still do it?”

Lately I have been asking my clients this question, and I shared this post on Facebook today to open up the dialogue over there as well. https://www.facebook.com/deanna.harder.5

I have finally come to a place where I train to be strong and not to chase a calorie burn. 

Years ago my answer to this question would’ve been so much different.

In those days, exercise was ruled by my heart rate monitor, how many calories I burned and how many miles I logged.

I know there are many people out there now doing this right now. You may be one of them. It sucks to be a slave to a device that really knows nothing about YOU internally.

In the last few years my priorities and reasons for working out have changed. I workout because it makes me stronger; fitter and gives me a mental break from the day.

I enjoy pushing myself; accomplishing new skills and strengths. I know that it will burn calories; ok awesome. But it is not the motivation behind why I show up to my workouts.  I am doing personal bests - getting that 300lb deadlift- **conventional deadlift this time not sumo**, 1km row in 4:15 and 10 consecutive pull-ups.

These are measurable goals that go beyond how many calories I burn.

THESE GOALS REQUIRE ADEQUATE REST AND NUTRITION!  

I do not workout to eat. I workout to workout. I eat to eat.

I hear people say all the time, “I workout so I can eat (or eat more). Or drink more.” That’s a vicious cycle of binge; workout, feel like crap; binge, workout. That’s no way to live. And chances are; your body isn’t changing the way you want it to if that’s how you operate.

If you can learn to eat in such a way that you aren’t rewarding yourself with food based on your calorie burn and your workouts are seen as a “bonus” in your day; your relationship with food and your body will change in a positive way.

So what’s your answer? Would you continue your exercise program if you knew it didn’t burn any calories at all?

This is the stuff I want to dig into with a little thing I am calling

#TheConfidenceProject.

A 4 week coaching program myself and another coach SammyJo Braithwiate are getting ready to launch. A free program for 20 women who want to level up - mindset, health, fitness and nutrition. Stay tuned for all of the juicy deets. Click on the link if you want to learn more about SJ! 

https://www.instagram.com/lifestylerising/?hl=en

Let's GO! 

xDGH Fitbabe 

A Competitive Dancer's Recovery Story

I am here tonight to share an amazing story of a woman who went from broken to BAD ASS!  This is a testimonial of what can happen when you stop training and eating in way that is harmful and disordered, to training and eating to THRIVE. 

I have spoken a lot lately about my eating disorder and exercise addiction. 

My goal is to help women stop OBSESSING over exercise and RESTRICTING their nutrition. I want to help them see results by training in a healthy way, without slipping back into their restrictive or disordered eating tendencies. 

For me, pursing what I thought was the perfect body stole my health and happiness. The crazy amount of sacrifice it took to become lean provided little (if any) reward. I have found much more fulfillment in eating and training well, treating my body with love, and appreciating all the amazing things my body does for me each day.

Please take a moment to read this amazing story of my client who has asked to keep her identity private. She has been super vulnerable here, and I can't thank her enough for sharing this with me and my readers.

"For as long as I can remember, I have been hyper aware of my body—yes, that’s part of the course for being a woman, but it was also part of being a competitive dancer.

Every negative thought, every critique in my head was in the sound of my dance teachers voice and was matched with an urgency to fix it or focus on it in a way that only a teenage girl can.

At 5’8” and 96 pounds there wasn’t many flaws to find, but in a room full of mirrors and an opinionated teacher, the slightest crease or deviance from the group felt like there was a spotlight highlighting my every insecurity.

My fingers felt too stiff, my chin too soft, my back too much of a sway, my ribs too flabby, and my toes not pointed as much as a classmate next to me. As silly as those critiques seem to me now, it was my entire world back then.

I remember standing over the scale at my first weigh-in and vowing to myself that the needle would never pass 100—as my lunches dwindled to cucumbers and my dinners to cliff bars, my goal seemed realistic.

My weight was remaining steady and I felt the itch to do more, apparently dancing 25-35 hours a week wasn’t enough. Soon I was taking acrobatic hot yoga every morning before high school, and doing the Insanity workout DVD’s every evening after I put in my hours at the studio.

I felt like I was doing something right; my teachers began to praise me, I got the centre positions in numbers, was asked to do demonstrations to the class, and was seen as a “studio favourite” by making student of the week—who cared that I went through a bottle of Tylenol a week and had my physiotherapist on speed-dial? So naturally, I felt like I needed to take it further.

Soon I was kneeling over the toilet at thanksgiving because the mashed potatoes weren’t worth it, and I was pushing myself through minor injuries because the perfect student makes it look easy.

After several years of this method, the minor injuries turned into major ones—ripped fascia’s in my calves, dislocated hips, ripped patella femoral ligament in my knee, ripped hamstrings, cracked bones in my back/neck, and turning a simple heart murmur into a condition requiring daily medication and tracking by a cardiologist.

I danced my last show when I was 18, and underneath all of the physical pain, I felt agony instead of relief. I had spent my entire life dancing, had no friends outside of the studio, and now had all of this spare time to overthink.

Now, I have what I was missing—balance. With the help of Deanna, I have been able to focus on being strong and healthy, finding clothes that are worthy of the body I have worked for, and understanding that I deserve all of the good things in life.

At 127.4 pounds (and climbing), I feel happier and more successful than I ever did at 96 pounds—all it took was looking at my life in a different perspective, several years to repair the emotional damage, a supportive partner, and good food and wine. 

-xo

If you feel like you are going through something similar, please reach out to me. 

When your body is talking to you, try your best to listen. It's not easy, but every little bit gets you closer to appreciating that our bodies are working so hard to keep us going. 

The road to recovery is long and hard, but it is worth it.  My eating disorder is a part of me but it is not all of me.

Love Deanna.