It's been awhile since my last post but my life has completely changed in the blink of an eye.  After completing in two NPC shows back to back last month, I can say that I have had a very successful year competing.  Now my plan is to take 8-10 months of and effectively grow and condition my body to obtain that pro card I have been striving for.  

Besides my shows, this sport has allowed me to understand the concept of stress management.  These past few months have been super stressful and a lot of life changes have happened overnight.  I got myself out of a toxic relationship, I discovered the love of my life, became a fitness model and sponsored athlete and have maintained an amazing and focused mindset to off set my bulimic like tendancies.


Overall I am genuinely thrilled with the path I have chosen for myself and will continue to strive to be the best that I can be.  I am going to begin regularly posting my updates on here for you guys in order for you to follow me more on my off season prep, plus I have a few new people that I am excited to introduce you to that are a huge part of my life. 

Everyone have a great day and I will be in touch soon.


Sending Love and Gains

xo Shan

The Sacrifice to Happiness

My blog initially began as a experiment for my social media class, but as I began to grow fond of documenting my updates I decided to continue with the blog and continue documenting my progress as I began my 14 week cut into my junior national bodybuilding show in June.  With the consistent stress that I am under it is hard for an individual who is not adapted into the bodybuilding lifestyle to understand that this is not a hobby.  It is a full time job.  

The commitment and dedication needed to maintain in a peak performance state almost all year is crucial to become successful in this sport.  Within the past 3 years I have transitioned into a bodybuilder, sacrificed, relationships, friendships, and hobbies in order to train to become an IFBB pro bodybuilder.  Although I am not there yet, it will happen when my time comes.  

Many questions I get asked are why I turned to the sport of bodybuilding and what drew me into the sport of lifting iron, sweating my ass off in the gym and having to buy mens clothes in order for them to fit my arms...the truth....

I am recovering bulimic and the sport of bodybuilding helped me focus on something other than my eating disorder.  I suffer from clinical depression, bulimia, and body dysmorphia.  The sport of bodybuilding allowed me to focus my energy into something different and change my mindset on how I feel about my body.  I also was in an abuse relationship, which fueled me to fend for myself and eventually learn that I don't need a man in my life that isn't going to respect me.  

Then bodybuilder Shannon was born.  

Since then my life has changed, and now with my strict regimen, close group of few friends and my job.  That is now my life at the moment.  I am content with it and it's making me discover myself in ways that I never realized I possibly could have found out.  

I have so many thoughts on this and will continue on later...but my rambling thoughts are about to mesh together as I am about to pass out to bed....

Staying Hydrated: Do We Take it for Granted?

It is essential with every workout, fitness regimen, and every lifestyle an individual chooses to live to stay fueled and hydrated as much as possible,  With the human body made up mainly of water, the key to living an essentially healthy and energized lifestyle is to stay hydrate with water.  But what if water disappeared?  What if after a heavy workout the water your body thirsts for is no longer available or even worse its there but its poisonous.  If you aren't living under a rock then I am sure that many of you have heard about the Flint water crisis occurring in the state of Michigan.

Recently it was discovered that Flint, MI, who replaced their water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River in Mid 2014, did not treat the water properly before it was expelled into the communities taps. The water itself had large amounts of lead found in it, this has lead to sickness, skin irritations, as well as a mess of inconvenience for the local Flint residents.  These locals in the community cannot drink, wash, or come in contact with any of the water sources from the river without risking detrimental illness. skin issues, and a variety of other medical problems.

As our nation pulls together to help the city of Flint, MI overcome this tragic event we all need to keep in mind how a simple element such as water, that is so crucial for our survival.  Take the time from your busy days and schedules and help donate to individuals who are not as privileged to even get free water out of a drinking fountain at the moment because the lead contamination is so high.  To donate to the  city of Flint as well as other information of how you can help, please click here ...Keep in mind that just by donating a case of water you are helping someone quench their thirst, keep their children alive and keep living their lives as best as they can.

To read even more about this event follow the links that I have listed below:
Flint Water Crisis pairs with Time Magazine 
Flint Water Crisis Explained 

I also encourage everyone who reads about this crisis to spread the word on how they can help the city of Flint.  What is so great about social media in today's world is that news spreads fast.  Share and post and continue to talk and mention ways individuals can help the city of Flint in order to keep this city in exceptional spirits as the mess is being cleaned up.

It happens when you are at your weakest, the point of time when you feel your muscles fatigue and your mind weaken.  It can happen and any moment.  For me. its when I lose focus for a moment, the minute I let my mind wander.  For a brief second my mind slips into a different thought and my muscles begin to tighten, my mind collapses with fatigue and for a few minutes I struggle to regain that mindset.  

 

The daily struggle of focusing at the gym.  It comes at a cost.  It comes with a sacrifice.  For those 2-3 hours that I move the iron, are the 2-3 most grueling, intense and amazing hours of my day.  The stress of the day seems to wash away, the intensity that I bring upon myself.  Sometimes I watch in fascination at my muscle contractions slowly move as the weight goes up and down.  

Sometimes I am intrigued by how much muscle I have placed onto my body.  A mere 3 years ago I was struggling to comprehend how I could manage the life of a bodybuilder, and now its a life that I could never give up. 

Sometimes a mere reflection of my journey allows me to understand the capability that I have as a human being in this world.  The mindset to push through the pain and the fatigue, the focus to do 15-20 week cutting diets and the drive to not let anyone stop me.  

It is that moment in the mirror that my true reflection comes out, the hungry mindset, the willingness to never settle and the desire to continue building my legacy.  It comes at a cost, it comes with pain, sacrifice and it comes with self-discovery.

All I can say is that when you find that niche, that special skill, hobby or talent that you are born to do, something inside just clicks.  When I came into my lifestyle of bodybuilding I realized that it was my niche.  It was what I was born to do and the longer I continue at it, the more my life begins to revolve more and more around it. The more I understand why I was made to have the body I do and the inspiration I was made to leave behind. 

It doesn't always happen the way it does for me, but I hope everyone finds that special niche and uses it to empower and inspire those around you.  

Misconceptions about the Sport of Bodybuilding....

A common misconception of bodybuilders and the sport is that we always eat healthy, we always lift heavy, we are mean and unapproachable.  We frown and make fun of the non-gym goers, we juice up on anabolic steroids and we have no consideration for others who value lifting for a non-competitive hobby. Although it is fun to listen to these rumors for entertainment purposes, I recently composed a list of my thoughts of these misconceptions based on my personal experiences with individuals.  

What People THINK bodybuilders are all about: 
1: We are completely judgmental of everyone's bodies
2: We do not associate with people who do not workout in the gym
3: We all cycle some type of steroid to become the biggest we can
4: Our lives consist of eating, sleeping, and lifting
5: We are intimidating, unapproachable, and are always moody
6: We always are looking for trouble when we go out in public places
7: We are all experts at every type of diet and fitness questions
8: We never eat junk food
9: We love showing off our strength and arm wrestling people

What bodybuilders ACTUALLY are all about:
1: We give everyone props to working on being the best individual they can be no matter their body type or fitness level
2: The gym does not control every aspect of our life, we have friends outside the gym, and yes we even go out to places other then the gym
3: Not all of us our juiced up on steroids and those who are work just as hard as those who do not
4: During contest prep, yes we do only eat, sleep and lift; but outside prep we all have some killer dance moves and are pretty fun to hangout with
5: Bodybuilders are probably some of the most kind hearted and personable people you will ever meet, even though some of us look like we have resting bitch faces
6: We actually try and blend in as much as we can we are normal people with an exceptional amount of muscle mass, trust me, the attention is not always enjoyable
7: We are not all certified trainers so please do not ask us to write you up a diet or fitness plan
8: We fucking love food, any type of food, pizza and donuts are probably a favorite
9: The most annoying thing ever is asking a bodybuilder is to arm wrestle (1) arm wrestling a random stranger is weird (2) winning or losing proves nothing (3) we also don't care how much you can shrug/bench while we are out enjoying ourselves.

And that is where I shall end my thoughts at with this post......

These are my friends and family and although we may carry more muscle mass then most, we still live normal lives, we spend time with our friends and family, we support and encourage each other, occasionally eat like shit but at the end of the day we share a common love for bodybuilding and that is the only thing that sets us apart, we live normal lives just like you and everyone else.  

Sundays...Sundays are the worst for me either I am fighting my coach to beg him to let me train or I am sitting on my couch catching up on my weekly tasks, feeling miserable for the sake of taking a rest day.  When training becomes part of your daily lifestyle, it becomes so much more than a required and dreaded task.  For me, my training is my escape....the negative bullshit that I have dealt with for the week is fueled into some of the most intense and best lifting sessions that I have had all week.  However, like every individual who changes their lifestyle into their passion there are both negatives and positives to every situation.  

I have to constantly tell myself that rest helps muscles recover much faster, and with crucial rest I am able to grow my muscles and in turn grow much faster strength wise as well.  

I will leave it at this the more that I shape my body, the more beautiful it becomes.  It is an ever-changing piece of art that I intend to continually perfect everyday of my life....I choose this lifestyle for myself but the longer I am living it, the lifestyle choose me....it found me and has helped me become successful at what I want to achieve...

Here is a little glimpse at a deeper look into my daily life....

https://vimeo.com/150777558

Post Leg day thoughts

Jaunary 13th, 2015

My legs are tired and sore and yet again I feel unfulfilled with the 3 hour training session I just completed.  The feeling of satisfactory is not a familiar feeling in my emotional context.  I always want more... I want to train harder, longer, and more intense.   If I am not in pain then I am not giving it my all.  Some say that I am too hard on myself, I say I need to make sacrifices in order to get ahead in the sport that I love.
Whatever a individual thinks about me they are completely entitled to their thoughts.  But before you really know the particular mindset that I convey, the particular behaviors that I act upon as well as the regimented lifestyle that I live you have no judgement on me....not yet.