Candids: Life with Amanda

We might dream that life with a female bodybuilder consists of her hanging around the house in her underwear while we keep her in steamed chicken breasts and make sure there’s always plenty of massage oil in the house. Ok, ok, this is what I dream about, I don’t want to be putting words into your mouth. You might after all, dream of something else entirely. Anyway, while I might dream the underwear-chicken breast-massage oil scenario, the reality of life with a female bodybuilder is, without doubt, much more interesting. Take life with Amanda Folstad (full name: Amanda Michelle Folstad-Ptak). Amanda doesn’t lounge around her house in her underwear. Or if she does, she doesn’t tell the world about it on her Facebook page. But she does share a lot of other things. And here’s a taste. A taste of life with Amanda.

On top of preparing for this year’s NPC USAs, where she competed in Physique, the last twelve months have been pretty exciting for Amanda (and her husband) as they went into business. In July they opened a One Stop Nutrition franchise in Mesa, Arizona, where they are based. Don’t say you don’t know where to find her if you’re in the area.

Amanda loves new clothes, shoes and trainers, and tends to model them for her followers more often than not, although not always as flexibly as here. And Amanda really loves dogs, confessing to being a boxer and bulldog girl.

Another of her loves is ‘Home Decoration’ (DIY to us Brits), and it certainly looks like she knows what she’s doing. And despite my dreams it doesn’t look like she’s going to need my (or anyone’s) help ‘Grillin up the foooood’ as she puts it.

It should be clear to you by now just from this little selection that life with Amanda is infinitely more varied and interesting than I had dreamt. And I’m not surprised. Female bodybuilders are, out of necessity, the kind of women who grab life with both hands, living it to the full, and very much on their own terms. It’s not just their bodies that are exceptional. And Amanda’s is no exception.

Enjoy!

Candids: IF…

IF…

… I knew who this muscular beauty was, she’d be my favourite author, and if she was signing my copy of her book, I’d probably ask for more than her signature.

… this was my crazy golf date, I wouldn’t be able to focus on my game, nor would I be able to do a much better job of holding the camera still than whoever took this.

IF…

… the receptionist at my gym had arms that were anything like Karla Bachiega‘s, I’d never make it all the way through to the changing room. On the plus side though, I’d at least be at the gym every single day, which would be an improvement.

IF…

… my neighbour looked like this, I would never ever refuse an invitation to a weekend barbecue at her place. And I’d be offering to service her boiler/mow her lawn/clean out her gutters/trim her hedge (?!) all the time.

… I knew where this restaurant was, I’d be fat. And poor, but happy. And those arms would have earned her enough money to put herself through college, and have enough left over for a graduation trip to the Bahamas. Or a deposit on a house.

Candids all week. Enjoy!

Shannon Courtney: Woman vs Food

Shannon’s top tip to budding muscle goddesses is ALWAYS be prepared! Getting all your meals in and on time is the key. So we imagine she’d approve of today’s post: Woman vs Food Shannon Courtney Special

As we’ve noted here before at FMS, while the majority of women who want to lose their extra pounds choose salads, skip meals and generally try to eat less, muscle goddesses like Shannon not only eat more, but also more often. Female bodybuilders are not only great athletes, they’re also great eaters. Those muscles that we love so much are just as much the result of her diet as they are of her efforts in the gym. If she wants to grow (and Shannon obviously does), she’s got to eat, and she’s got to eat a lot.

It may seem counter-intuitive, mainly because most women have fallen for the ‘eat less diet myth’, but female bodybuilders are living proof that if you eat the right things in the right amounts, you can eat five, six, seven, even eight times a day and have hardly any excess fat. But you’ve got to eat right. Muscle women know what to eat and crucially when to eat it. So, again, they’re more than just great athletes, they’re also expert nutritionists. And no mean cooks.

(left) Shannon describes her homemade Pumpkin Protein Bars as ‘effing amazing’. The recipe, inspired by Jamie Eason, can be found on Shannon’s Facebook page.

(right) Shannon displays an off-season treat, homemade chocolate chip cookie dough chocolate bonbons. And one of her lovely biceps.

After all the nutritional discipline of her contest prep diet, the new pro and her burger. The moment I’ve been waiting for! My PB&J burger from 26Beach. I’ve been thinking about this burger since the USAs and we are finally reunited.

Shannon’s ‘favourite time of the month’ is when her order arrives from Michelle’s Magic Morsels. The Michelle on the label is, that’s right, none other than Michelle Brent, and Michelle is canny enough to be using Shannon (specifically the picture above right) to promote her product. Shannon says, OMG! These protein cookies are freakin’ amazing! Perfect for traveling and on the go – super healthy and CRAZY delicious!!! And so are the muffins! TRY THEM!!! THEY WON’T LET YOU DOWN!

Who’s hungry?

Woman vs Food: Brigita

Last November, FMS went Around the World with Brigita, showcasing her ‘candid’ photos from her travels, some of which showed her eating and drinking. However, Brigita likes her candids (or perhaps it’s her husband who likes them) so much, that we by no means exhausted our supply of images of ‘Brigy’ keeping her magnificent muscles fed in a variety of exotic locations, so we thought we’d bring you a few more.

Brigita is most definitely a carnivore. I’m a typical meat-eater, she says, and I have my meat in every meal except in post workout shake. I also eat decent portions of egg whites, rice and vegetables. While keeping my diet clean I feel good and I look good. And it’s pretty easy because I don’t like pizza or pasta, I prefer steak. I’m careful to buy organic food, especially the meat and vegetables.

But obviously she’s not averse to a post-contest treat either, judging by the way she’s devouring those sweet treats in the pictures below. Gosh she can open her mouth wide, can’t she?! And I’m not going to say anything about her lips or what she’s doing with them in the picture on the right… Not a word!

Hope you enjoyed our feast of female muscle beef feasting.

Thanks to those who liked it enough to comment. I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a winner or not – it just seemed a bit ‘out there’ – but obviously I needn’t have worried.

Woman vs Ice Cream

We’ve been very good, nutritionally-speaking, this week. We deserve a treat.

Hungary’s beautiful Arnold Classic Europe Physique champion, Susanna Tirpak, tucks into a tub after her victory in Madrid last year. I have a sweet tooth, says Susanna. I Just LOVE everything that’s sweet!

And another lady who likes to celebrate with ice cream when the contest’s over is Britain’s own Christal ‘The Spartan’ Cornick. Watch out for Christal this year – FMS thinks you may well be looking at the next UKBFF FBB champion.

You can follow Christal on Twitter or her youtube channel

You’d better savour that ice cream cos it’s back to the diet tomorrow.

Enjoy!

Woman vs Food: Michaela

Michaela Schaar, aka Iron Witch, tucking in in four different scenarios.

Am I the only one who’s noticed how often Michaela gets her tongue out in photos?
Not complaining, just saying!

Watch an interview with Michaela (in German) at FIBO 2013 here. Even if you don’t speak German, you might want to give it a watch because the interview includes some of Michaela’s progress pics since 2006. Quite a transformation.

Woman vs Food: Cindy

According to Cindy’s website, The difference that an optimised nutrition plan makes to your training is astounding, the results are night and day! We’ve all heard the saying, “You are what you eat”. Well, when it comes to building a great physique, this applies three-fold. You simply CANNOT expect to create your perfect body shape whilst feeding it with poor quality nutrition.

And Cindy, a qualified nutritionist, you may remember, will make a Custom Nutrition Plan just for you. For €99.95. That’s quite a few subs. Worth it? Cindy thinks so. What you will get for your money isn’t merely a diet sheet, it’s an education in maximising your progress through optimised nutrition. Put an end to the guesswork and get your nutrition in PERFECT order!

More details on Cindy’s website if you’re interested in the Custom Nutrition Plan.
Or just interested in Cindy.

Woman vs Food: Eva

Off season training rocks, says Finnish beauty Eva Kovalainen. You get to eat more, so you don’t have to go training when you’re starving. Your workouts have a lot more power. She eats six or seven times a day, and, as we can see, she is equally comfortable shovelling that food in with a fork, chopsticks or her fingers.

Woman vs Food: Yaxeni

That’s a lot of food. But then again, that is also a lot of woman.

Yaxeni says she enjoys ‘the wonderful restaurants of Miami’, eating out once a week with her husband and friends, and ‘sweets and cakes’ are a couple of her favourite off-season foods. Guess it’s safe to say that these photos were taken during her off-season then, not that makes any difference to how good she looks in a bikini.

Enjoy!

Woman vs Food

Ever seen the film ‘Diner’? Remember the scene when one of the minor characters, Earl I think his name is, eats ‘the whole left side of the menu’ as a bet? Well, Kashma Maharaj loves that film, and as she also loves feeding her mighty muscles, she can often be found in Florida diners recreating that scene.

A muscle woman’s got to eat. Those muscles that we love so much are just as much the result of her diet as they are of her efforts in the gym. If she wants to grow, she’s got to eat, and she’s got to eat a lot. Female bodybuilders, it seems to me, are not only great athletes, but they’re also great eaters.

While the majority of women who want to lose their extra pounds choose salads, skip meals and generally try to eat less, muscle goddesses not only eat more, but also more often. It may seem counter-intuitive, mainly because most women have fallen for the ‘eat less diet myth’, but female bodybuilders are living proof that if you eat the right things in the right amounts, you can eat five, six, seven, even eight times a day and have hardly any excess fat.

Yeon Woo Ji has clearly just stuffed her face (and not for the first time that day, I’ll bet), but still has a set of abs lettuce-munchers can only dream of.

But she can’t eat just any old thing, she’s got to eat right. Muscle women know what to eat and crucially when to eat it. So, again, they’re more than just great athletes, they’re also expert nutritionists.

And if eating right involves preparing meals for days in advance – as, for example, we learned from Rene Campbell’s description of her travel plans before the Chicago Pro (see Rene Goes Pro) – that’s going to mean eating meals out of airtight containers in hotel rooms, at airports, even on planes.

Frida Palmell has grown to love the home-prepared meals she carries around with her everywhere that she was inspired to pen a poem about it. Entitled ‘An Ode to Tupperware and Plastic Cutlery’, the poem can be read in the original Swedish and an English translation on her website.

Meanwhile, in her forthcoming autobiography, Mary Hobbs recalls having to flex for a customer officer who was suspicious of the amount of pre-cooked food in her luggage. “After a double biceps and a most muscular he was quite happy with my explanation that I needed all the food to keep my muscles growing,” she recalls.

But after months of dietary discipline, and weeks of heroic pre-contest dieting, there’s always the big post-contest blow-out to look forward to. The one day when the muscle woman gets to have a well-deserved treat.

Susan Rydmyr has revealed to FMS that her motivational mantra is ‘Muscle=Medals and Medals=Micky Ds”.


Meanwhile, muscle goddess Helle Nielsen has more of a sweet tooth, and a big thing for cupcakes. When she sent us this picture for our ‘Woman vs Food’ week she told us that about fifteen seconds after this picture was taken, all those cupcakes in front of her ‘had magically disappeared’.

Enjoy!