Yep, I’ve decided: I’m heading back to the competition stage in November, at the tender age of 51.

After coaching thousands of women on the benefits of fitness and on creating concrete, workable goals to get you there, I’ve decided to take my own medicine and head into competition again…..

Doing a competition is the ultimate motivator. When you have to get up on stage in a teensy-weensy bikini in front of 500+ people, believe me, you’re going to stay on track with your training and eating! And I’ve seen it with dozens of women over the years who have trained with me, then gone the ultimate step and competed. Regardless of their placing, they all walked away changed women for life.

It all kinda started with the 10 Week Challenge which I created in 2010, in which I pulled from my years of training and some competition stuff, and we transformed how they train, ate, and thought about life.  Then they wanted more, so I created the 12-Week Advanced Challenge where I went deeper into competition-style stuff. We’re in Week 3 now, and everyone’s loving the process!

Then last week I helped a former Challenger winner – Deanna Pfeifer – with her posing, and it all came rushing back to me: I wanted to head back to the stage one last time.

What awaits me? I have no idea. I haven’t competed in 18 years, and back then, I was in bodybuilding (that’s all there was back then) and I did ok at that, winning the Overall Alberta Provincials. 

Now I am heading into Figure, and I have to start over again, at the novice level. I don’t get to take any of my national standings with me because I’ve switched categories, but I’m not interested in body building anymore…this 5’2″ 115 pound gal just can’t compete against the likes of those ever-muscular women and the additives they often take to get there. To me, it’s always been about health, dedication and excellence.

Never mind what they say about the sport of physique building, it’s one of the toughest sports I know, but also one that builds health on all levels, and helps us older gals stay shapely and strong well into old age, long after our counterparts are complaining about how their bodies have changed with age, how shifting hormones results in extra weight, and how beauty and grace is wasted on the young.

Don’t buy into it. Train heavy, eat clean and have goals.  Always strive for more. Never give up!

Watch for The Real McCoy video series to see how I train and prepare for competition, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll get the bug too!!

karen

We all have that one stubborn bodypart that just won’t seem to improve. Is it your butt? Your triceps? Abs?

How to work a stubborn bodypart? Reps, sets and weights aside, this is what you have to do first and foremost, in order for you to see any improvement! Check out my YouTube video.
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PS – Don’t forget that my 10-Week Challenge sign up closes in 5 days! I have 3 spots left! Get in shape for summer (I won’t be running another one until fall!).

“Karen, I can’t tell you how amazing I feel and how much my life has changed 🙂 I’ve lost 12lbs and gained habits that I will have forever! Thank you so much for all your support, you’re an inspiration!” – Kurstie Somner, recent graduate of the 10-Week Best Shape of Your Life Challenge!

I really dislike when people  try to argue that the adage “No Pain, No Gain” is dangerous, or untrue or outdated.

Really? 

Here’s what I say…the people that say this are usually the ones that need to apply this philosophy…and not just in their fitness levels, but in other parts of their lives too.

The way I see it, we need to step outside of our comfort zone, regardless of what area we need / desire improvement in…career, love, money, and yes, fitness.

No where is this more evident than in my latest group of soon-to-be 10-Week Challenger Graduates, who all dared to step outside of their own comfort zone, trust in me, do the work and create positive changes in their bodies and their lives.

As the emails come in, there are always varying levels of success…one woman has dropped 12 pounds, another has dropped 3 dress sizes, another hasn’t lost the weight according to the scale, but she had to get some new pants because her body shape changed…tighter waist, smaller thighs, smaller hips.

Some have been true to the training and eating every day so far, others perhaps not. Some have stayed on the healthy bandwagon religiously, others have fallen off and gotten back on, sometime several times over the course of the Challenge. And so it goes…

But in my view, regardless of what the scale shows, or the dress size, I can tell you this: each woman has stepped outside their comfort level and stepped into a new possibility, a place of opportunity, that needs to be reached in order to make changes. In their lives, they learned to embrace (whether with joy or not), the no pain, no gain philosophy that is necessary to make changes.

I always say, dig deep and soar high.

So the next time someone again says, “I don’t believe in the no pain, no gain thing….” I’ll ask them if there are any areas of their lives that they’d like to see improvement. With  a little less talk and a more (courageous) action, I know they too would soar into that place of infinite possiblitites. If  they embraced the pain of growth  they would come out feeling stronger and more able to move into the fullness of their lives. That’s what I see in my Challengers every day!

Congarts to all my 10-Week Challengers….I am proud of you, but more importantly I hope that you are proud of you. You dared to step out of your comfort zone  and live a new way. Let’s keep the momentum going, shall we?

karen

“Mark Twain said: Really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great. Eight weeks into the Challenge I can taste success! Thank-you for inspiring us to be great Karen!”
– Susan Lees, Victoria, BC

Seems I caused quite a stir by putting these photos up on Facebook….we had a ton of comments! Some of them great, others, well…

“I’d never want a bubble butt like the one on the right,” said one. “Cosmetic surgery,” said another, and one got upset that I was comparing caucasion to a Brazilian butt. Still another woman said the butt on the right was photogenically enhanced…

What’s the deal? I’m all for opinions, but I sensed a growing tension and competitiveness amongst my fellow sisters…

First of all, it’s not my photo, so please don’t shoot the messenger. Second of all, I was trying to (again) dispell the myth that squats create a wide, ugly butt. I see my role as one of education, given my experience, is all.

Does the lady on the right actually squat? I have no idea, to be honest, but from where I’m standing, it certainly looks like it. I’ve been to enough competitions to know what a squatting butt looks like – high, firm and with less fat on it. But I know for sure the lady on the left does not squat (or not properly, anyway). 

How can I say that? Because I used to have that butt – it was big and fat for years, then when I lost the weight, it was simply flat. It was only after learning to squat (at the tender age of 48) that it started to get rounded, higher and smaller.

Don’t believe me? Ask my hubby! 🙂 I don’t have a butt like miss right, but it’s kinda in between miss left and miss right…it’s certainly a helluva lot better than it was! And if I can do it at my age, you can make improvements too!

Several commentors said they had been squatting for years, but their butt never looked like that. Genetics do play a role, sure, but could it be that you just aren’t squatting well enough, or consistent enough, or heavy enough? It might not really be your thing, and that’s ok too! It took me 6 months to perfect a simple bar squat, but I was committed to learn, really learn, this movement that had evaded me for over 20 years. For me, the only real change came when I started doing 8-10 sets of heavy squats (this is relative for every woman) every 6 days or so, coupled with another 12-20 sets of straight glute exercises.

My posts are meant to educate, challenge, and shift how we view things, but let’s not lose sight of the sisterhood! The way I see it, that’s one of the biggest issue facing women today, the falling away of support by other females, especially in the area of health, bodies, and….here it comes….butts! I’ve seen it for years…the healthier (and dare I say sexier) women may become, the more they offend / challenge other women. I’ve even seen it in families, with co-workers…in the closest of relationships.

Ladies, support your fellow women, be they squatters or non-squatters. We’re all in this together, young or old, runners or weight lifters, rounded-butts or flat-butts! We can choose to differ, for sure, but we need to keep the sisterhood intact. As Don Miguel Ruez says in The 4 Agreements – be impeccable with your words. We are, after all, cultivating a new generation of women whom we hope will support each other in their fitness and beauty goals, and in knowing they deserve to feel (and look) their best!

From your sister,
karen
🙂

Many thanks for all who showed up at the 21st Annual Victoria Health Show…I got to meet all sorts of people, and especially nice to meet you gals who are on one of my on-line programs…that I’ve never even met face to face! NOW I can put a face to the name! COOL! Heck, I even got a flex out of Greens + creator, Sam Graci! (right)

And I’ve got a bunch of you who bought my lifestyle book – One Rep at a Time – and are now doing the program….remember, email me with any questions! (Hey, where else can you get a full 8-week program with real-life videos, workout cards, nutrition, recipes, articles and info on how to build emotional and spiritual health and wellness…for FREE?).

It’s been my pleasure to create the 8-WEEK BLISS Body Makeover Program and my pleasure to give it away to you…I love paying it forward, and you are paying it forward too ($1 from the sale of every book goes to charity). And I’m at the helm of the program, so email me with questions, ok?

OK. I’m off to soak my achy feet! Thanks again ladies! And for those of you in Vancouver, I’ll be there for the Vancouver Wellness Show at the Convention Centre, Feb 17-19th. I’ll be there at my booth, and I’ll be lecturing on the Saturday again! (I just LOVE this stuff!).

Ciao! Karen

PS  – My book is available at Bolen’s, Russell’s, Munro’s and Tanners….some have sold out, but I’ve got more copies coming next week!

I was interviewed by CFAX Radio yesterday for the upcoming Health Show this weekend…thought I’d share it with you all. We chatted about all kinds of stuff….

If you come to the show, please stop by booth #47. Would love to see you!

Karen

https://mccoyfitness.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Interview-with-CFAX.wma

My Merry Xmas video from…where else…the gym! Hubby and I thought we’d go do a few squats before our turkey dinner tomorrow….gotta keep those treats off the thighs and butt somehow!

Many thanks for everyone’s support over the year, and let’s look forward to a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012! See you on the other side!

Karen and family!

In Japan, they have a practice called hara hachi bu. Basically, it teaches one to eat only until you’re 80 percent full. This helps them to live longer and stay in better health.

Other cultures practice similar things: the Aryuvedic tradition in India advises eating until you are 75 percent full. The Chinese specify 70 percent full. The prophet Muhammad described a full belly as one that had 1/3 food, 1/3 liquid and 1/3 air. In Germany, they say: “You need to tie off the sack before it gets completely full.”

I learned this practice about 20 years ago and I’ve been practicing it ever since. In our household, we often eat our biggest meal in the late afternoon. Our smaller dinner is done by 6:30 (there are a few exceptions, of course) and we forgo the late-night snacking. If we have a craving, it’s butterless popcorn – the mini bag – split between us.

Problem is, most people can’t (or don’t want to) grasp this concept. They think it’s living in denail, without pleasure. Really? To me, living with a bloated belly and excess weight is not how I want to go through life. Not anymore, anyway. 

I always say, if you want to be fit and lean and stay that way, then you have to think like a fit and lean person. It’s not about denial or going without. People ‘like us’ just think differently. We want to feel good. We want to be well. We see food as both a pleasure and a gateway to an amazingly healthy and vibrant life.  

Try hara hachi bu, if only for a few days. Not only will you feel great, pretty soon you’ll learn what many of us have already learned, that the true path to health and wellness must first come from within.

Change your thinking, change your life!

karen

PS A Reminder that my next Lift n Lose class starts November 7th, and sign up has begun for my monthly Keep it Up Class starts November 1st! Limited class size! For more info, please CLICK HERE!

When I take on clients, I know that the toughest part of my job is not necessarily teachings them how to lift, what kinds of exercises to do, or even how to eat well. The toughest part is helping them to see how their inner beliefs may be limiting their best efforts.

Us trainers repeat our mantras about the importance of ‘commitment’, lerning how to ‘prioritize’, and staying ‘on schedule’, but these things can conjure up more feelings of pressure and guilt.

Let’s dig a little deeper.

The successful client is the one that sees her training and clean eating from another perspective: an empowering one that says it’s good – no, necessary – to train and eat well.

I made this shift awhile ago…yes, I had always been interested in good health but it was also about looking good. But when my son was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy years ago, I was struck with the undeniable truth that he would soon lose all function with time. 

Despite my fit body and clean lifestyle, I was overwhelmed with fear, sadness and guilt – guilt at being able to strengthen my body while I watched my son’s muscles slowly deteriorate. How dare I be so selfish? I didn’t train for a full five years.

Then, one night while he lay sleeping, I sat beside him, stroking his tiny chest, and I made him a vow – to do whatever I could to support him in his journey.

And that’s when it shifted for me: I had to stay healthy for him, in order to help him through his years of declining strength. My being able to train was a gift to him, to all of us. I got rid of the guilt and replaced it with something greater: if good health was my gift, then I could use it to help him.

Today I teach women everywhere that training is the greatest act of self-love you can practice. Park your guilt at the door, nix the excuses, file your doubt away and go in and ‘love yourself into health’ with every lift.

To love yourself means being healthy, whole and all you can be. And that means committing to keeping your body strong and capable.

Do it for them. But mostly, do it for you. And know that you deserve it.

karen