My online coaching is one of the corner stones in my business. I love helping clients with tips, recommendations, ideas, motivate, push and listen. Some times it’s more about how to really use food to your advantage, other times I am more like someone you can tell all your struggles and frustrations even if it maybe not fitness related first hand.

Anyway, I am now setting up my video cam in order to chat online face to face with clients instead of just emailing. It’s more efficient because writing does take a lot of typing lol. Talking is easier for both the client and for me. Add the benefit of having to face me each week to talk about the week that past…lol. Gotta stay on track then huh, cannot hide behind words in an email!

Of course, regular emails will still be the number one communication tool, so don’t worry if your computer has no video cam.

I will also offer my chats as video chats too: 30 minute sessions. More info will come.

Now it’s final night in NYC, so gotta make the most out of it before heading home!

I love traveling to new places, to see new surroundings, feel the beats of other crowds than the one in LA, I love listening to different accents, different ways to greet, approach,  well just different on how to BE.
So changing west coast for east coast was a sweet change, despite the anti-Paulinish cold cold weather. I prepared though with double pants, mitts, four layers including under armour tight sleeve top.
I enjoy the most doing what I usually do at home but in new settings. That is why I never lose motivation to go work out when I’m traveling. Today was extra fun because I reached a new all time low since my “challenge 115” which gave me a lot of new energy. 115.5 lbs as of today! Yay! It’s day 85 on the mission.

Gym I am staying at is equipped with new precor machines, first cardio session rocked! I ran without any problems in my ankles at 7.2 mph (2% incline), new highest speed with new running style too. WOW, what a morning huh! Great shape, new town, great cardio. Those things make me happy!

Been touring Manhattan just to finish it off with a trip to Equinox and Whole food market. Cardio pm I finished off with a 4 minute round at level 20 on the gauntlet. Aaaaah, I just love-hate those rounds! Lactic acid and just wanna push the stop button! The gauntlets here are newer, softer, better than the old ones at Golds in Venice. Those buttons don’t work so you keep on pushing them running the same time and it is like “stop! Stop!!! Stop!!!!” but nothing happens. Pretty scary lol. The other day I tried to jump off instead like I see some people do, but I didn’t make it, the machine stopped completely….

Traveling rejuvenates my spirit. I get a HIGH and I see a new reason to work harder, harder, harder and more: I need to travel MORE! So, my planned ASIA trip is already exciting me!

Hey, if you are bored with cardio, a nice tweak is to set the treadmill at 15% incline and walk at a speed of 2.5 to 2.7 mph by PUSHING instead of walking. Think of it like you are pushing a big car in front of you. Hold on and push on the display or handles. Great glute strengthener.

Tomorrow is more feeling the beat of NYC,  also meeting up with my model agent again (very nice and funny guy), more working out and just relaxing. Maybe in the sauna! Hope I find myself alone there so I can use it for stretching (workout attire is ON, don’t even think anything else lol) instead of just sitting!

Bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts are well-known creatures of habit. That is why we are perfect employees in general: we stay healthy, we are on time, we come and leave at the same time, we are doing the same pattern day in and day out. We go train every day, eat the same meals, go to bed early like babies, get sleep, take our vitamins… Oh, it sounds so boring, doesn’t it!

Some people get so stuck in this convenience zone they never get out of town! I always refused to be one of them because when I am old and waiting to die I don’t want to see my life as “well, I never missed a workout anyway!” lol. I am not living my life in the gym fish bowl. I love seeing new places.

Before I moved to America I went to visit here several times. I used up all my saved money and went for vacation or more like researching my future country.

As strict as I am with my training and diet, I would not let that be an obstacle for traveling. All it takes is planning and prepping. I happen to be a pro at that.

I research the area where I am going long time ahead. Get all info about the gyms close by, I call to check their hours as well as I call the gym to make sure they really DO have more than one treadmill as it says on their website…. Food wise, it depends on how long I will be gone. A few days and I can just rely on discipline: I rather starve than eat something off my plan, but this is NOT something I recommend. I do remember when I was younger I did give in and had crappy food when I got too hungry.

I research the destination for wholefood markets if I am in the U.S, I google for asian markets in order to get my shirataki, I bring rescue pink salmon and protein powder, I always bring wheat bran and BCAAs. I prepack my pre and post workout protein and aminos. I measure up my pistachio nuts in bags.

I do travel with some compulsivities, yes: I do bring my scale. I do bring my diet note book and my training log.

Hotel rooms always have a water boiler, so with that I am good, I can rinse my noodles and eat to stay full. I usually call and ask for a microwave delivered to the room, but if I am going by car, I usually bring my own! Just to be sure.

So, what do I do with my veggies? Well, I research for the closest super market and get a cab there when I arrive. THAT or I actually bring my cabbage! It does not spoil. And I bring mustard.

I am planning a trip to Asia later this year. The food is well known to be splendid but tasting new foods is not my prime motiv to travel, so I won’t really get into that. I will look for exotic veggies though.

It is all about planning. Life is too short to be too convenient, but that does not mean you need to compromise!

Here it is, my fitness model ebook! Go check it out in the shop, click the picture!

I never wanted to be a professional yo-yo dieter, that’s why I always refused to have off seasons body composition wise. In my world it’s embarrassing if you look like a totally different person in real life compared to your photos or competition pics. If you need to spend half a year at leaning out all the flab just to do a show or two or a photo shoot or two, because your appetite is too big or your discipline to weak, is it really worth it? Looking great two days a year and then be soft and mushy. For me it never was anyway.

I’m not talking about having a few healthy pounds to shed for an event, I’m referring to all those who get FAT, yeah FAT when the show time is over. The ladies get double butt size and with that follows stretch marks which don’t look great on stage. It’s manageable not to get any: never gain back weight!

The guys get the gut and the chubby face. Looking like big toddlers walking around grunting and puffing all out of breath.

I always wondered how people can see themselves as into health and fitness when they actually gain and lose weight like Oprah Winfrey or janet jackson. It’s not healthy and it’s not pretty!

over to another thing about weightloss etc:

As lean as I am consistently throughout the year (because it is my chosen lifestyle, NOT genetically gifted ok?) I realize you believe I have an easy way to lose weight? Quite the opposite! It’s always taken me months to shed 2 to 4 pounds, and that is the range I’ve always held myself in except for when I was 20 til 23 and had those offseasons and the fattest I ever was was 130. Oh MAN, but I was puffy!!! lol. Anyway, So same scenario now. Why so hard for me to lose? because the less you have to lose the more your body resists you! To stay in the condition I am in I have to do LOTS of training. LOTS of it. Because my body does not want to be single digit fat,I chose it and I need to work on keeping it that way.

I know it would be sweet if it was a cruising phase all the time after you reach a low point, but it is not. There is always a need to change patterns, shake that body up to confusion etc. To keep an extreme state you have to keep on being extreme.

For ladies, well, for us to be lean takes a lot more work than for men. Our hormone system is not designed to be hardworking, powerful lean athletes. WE want to, but our BODIES don’t want to from a breeding the human race point of view.

Sometimes I have clients who worry about what to do when they have reached their goals. Well, you keep on keeping on! I tell them and they look worked up. No, there is no going back to your old habits. There is no going back to a slower tempo. If you change stimulus the body senses it and you will get your old body back!

That is why the ART of being lean is a marathon, not a 400 m race like some clever lady wrote on my facebook page. Everyone can get in super shape for a show, but very few can apply the discipline to a life long commitment.

So, how disciplined are you to KEEP your condition is what you want to ask yourself, not how fast you can get really shredded.

The sweat keeps coming, the music gotta keep rocking. My solution to stop the nasty headphone sweat. No time to wash the speaker cushions every day, so this is perfect. very fashionable right!

These two emails are what make me happy….;

“I’m not one to thank people I don’t know in person, but I feel compelled to thank you for being such a source of inspiration and energy to me. Many parts of my life are pretty shitty right now, and many things seem to be goal-less and lacking, but not my dedication to be a strong (physically and emotionally), fearless, and passionate individual. Sometimes I’m not the best at these, but I keep pushing. Its just so great to see others like yourself with a drive that I desire so much to have. I admire your vitality and clarity. Thank you for baring yourself to us. Its not everyday you find people exposing themselves to the world the way you do. Your genuinity reaches me, as I’m sure it does to many others. I hope to do the same one day with my life.

Thanks again!”

And….;

“Hi Pauline,

Every time I read your blog and rambles I get choked up inside, its amazing to me that someone can mirror how I feel so precisely.   Your words give me strength, I know the key is consistency but combine that with motivation and ethusiasm and you have a powerful formula.   I feel I can always do better, train better, lift heavier, eat even cleaner  (if that’s possible) and more, I am not afraid, I can improve constantly.  I have always been a self motivated person and I have always had consistency but now since finding you I have more, it has made all the difference, I am more focused, stronger and happier in myself.  In the past I have tried to fight with my passion to conform to what others wanted me to be, but I can no longer repress, even if they are my family. Pauline you are an amazing mentor and I have quietly read your blog and rambles, but I can be quiet no longer, words are unable to describe my appreciation for what you have done for me, my inner spirit has been lifted and strength renewed and for this I thank you enormously”

I’m filled with energy. I’m filled with energy. I’m filled with energy. That’s the mantra I repeat when I wake up in the morning and the last feeling I feel is energy. I know I become what I think, that’s why I refuse to FEEL being tired. I cannot let it get to me. I’m filled with energy.

So, once again, the cardio session is coming up and why am I doing it again? Because I have goals. I have reasons. And the means to the end is being consistent. My body is trying to help me in the dumbest way possible because my body thinks it should conserve energy, not spend it. I’m FILLED with ENERGY.

Heart is super strong, muscles not that super excited about training again, but it’s mind over matter. I must expend energy. I’ve got way lotta energy to spend. I put the music on. I keep repeating I’m strong, I’m powerful, I get all I want, I reach all my goals, I’m invincible, I’m super woman, I’m unstoppable, unbeatable, I’m excited, I love this, I love feeling this, I’m filled with energy, I’m strong, strong, Strong, I go longer and further than everyone else, I want this more than anyone else, I’m an animal, I’m a machine, I’m unstoppable, unbeatable, I’m an ubermensch, I’m powerful, I’m strong.

And with the mantra I become all that. I focus on feeling unstoppable and I become it. It’s so easy, yet so hard to acknowledge sometimes.

After I’m done with the cardio, and it’s one long session and not at low intensity either, I’m working it baby, oh yeah I am, it’s time to hit the weights. And I know everyone expects you to be tired fatigued and drained without power to lift just as heavy as if you had a big carb-up meal the night before, but I keep on working my mantra. I feel strong, oh these dumbbells are so LIGHT! They are peanuts!!!! I know that the veins that pop in my forehead and the shaking in my whole body and the exhausted look in my face, I know all that unveils me, I’m pushing as hard as I can and I’m on the limit, but I get them up. And I keep on. And I refuse to feel the weight pressing me down. I get a power from the ground leading thru my knees, my thighs, my glutes, my spine, and to my arms and UP fly the dumbbells and yes they are 60% of my body weight but I got two strong arms and shoulders to lift them.

I know I’m on the edge, one mistake and my shoulders can rupture because I wrap my grip around the dumbbells, but I KNOW, I KNOW I don’t do any mistakes here. I’m in control. And every set I feel empowered, I feel stronger. For every minute I grow a superhuman power.

I’m filled with energy. I’m filled with energy. I’m filled with energy.

Pictures FOOL you.  Look at these two taken at the SAME day, SAME spot, SAME model (me) and tell me you don’t believe it is two different models?

Or how about these two:

As you can see the POSE, the LIGHTNING, the flexing differ in the pictures which makes me look SMALL in one and HUGE in another one. It does not change the way I am for real.

Do not get fooled by magic photography! It is an illusion!

Once upon a time I started as a bodybuilder. My weight division cut-off was 115 lbs.  It’s the amateur lightweight division. At 5′2, if you can be super dense at that weight you are quite MUSCULAR.

Just like fighters have to make weight for fights, I’m used to use the scale as one of three tools to make sure I am where I want to be.

In the 11 years I’ve trained, I’ve been hovering around the same weight range. I look different though since the body adapts to the training stress, you get more dense lean muscle and less fat, BUT the weight is more or less the same.

I use the scale to track my body change because it is accurate. Yes, it fluctuates 5 lbs up and down depending on water retention, fiber intake, more or less food, stress, sleep, bowel movement etc, BUT still, when I go look in the mirror I can tell what I weigh before I step on the scale.

I know from experience that when my abs are really cut, and I can feel a tight tie-in between the glutes and hamstrings as well as I have striations on my legs, I know I am in the 116’s. If I wake up puffy I know I am on the 120 level.

I know my body fat level: it is between 7 and 9 consistently. It’s been that for the last two three years.

I go by how clothing fit too. I know my skinny jeans fit when I am down around 115. I can then fit into a size 0, which I like to be able to do. Why? Because then I can “hide” my muscularity under clothing and appear very small. This is important when going to mainstream castings and auditions since muscle scares that mainstream world off.  If you did not know I rather reach out to a broader market than to the niche bodybuilding world only.

It always upsets people when I am “obsessed” with my weight. I believe the reason is due to the “Oh, but muscle weighs more so it is ok I weigh more!”. I don’t know about YOU, but it does not make me feel better knowing my body weighs more due to muscle. Well, if I were not trained I guess I would be a 110 lbs chick since I would refuse to be “soft and puffy”.

The scale is a very good tool to use as a reference. You cannot get obsessed with one pound up or down, I mean, drink a gallon of water and step up on the scale: wow, you just gained weight!!!

The scale is a very good tool for me to track refeed carb replenishment, water retention etc.

It all comes down to I know my body and I know what I look like at a certain weight. That is why I use it for my tool. I would not be happy if I was SOFT and light on the scale. But combine CUT, DRY AND a 115 weight and I know I am ON.