New Video from Heaviside, the April 2012 Doers of the Month!

The boys are back! I wrote about Heaviside in April and they are at it again. 

They debuted their newest video, Lady, just the other day. 

Check it out here:

I think it is both hilarious and awesome. Good work, boys!

October Doer of the Month: Sereena Gayton, Figure Competitor (and old friend)

The Ultimate in healthy living and work-out lifestyle: the Figure Competitor. 

You see them on the television and in your mind's imagination. But there are a few misconceptions about our strong, healthy friends: 

Legit.
(From Body Building Dedication's Facebook page)

Sereena and I grew up in a small town together, and saw a lot of each other until high school when we ended up in different schools. Which in small towns counts as different countries. 

I remember her as a fun, hilarious girl with a shy streak. But I also remember her as being self-deprecating and often negative about her own, awesome self. 

Sereena in 2008. Halloween time, I presume.

It wasn't that weird. We were teenage girls. We grew up in this environment now known as toxic in which images of sexed-up women and made-up girls bombarded our every day. We were supposed to be funny and smart and cute and hot and sexy, but not too sexy, and witty and, well, none of us were. Because we were girls, and that's ok. 

Point is, we had self-esteem issues, just like everybody else. But what was unlike everyone else, was that Sereena's seemed to have stuck in a bad way.  

Until one day, as Sereena recalls: 

"My body was a mess; my doctor was concerned about high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, my BMI and waist circumference was nowhere near healthy standards. What I believe was the most important was that I had a horrible body image, I had zero self-esteem, I wasn't happy with what I saw. How can you live your life, be happy with other people and build positive relationships with other people when you are depressed with yourself and know that you can be a much better person?"

In January of 2011 Sereena sought the guidance of health and muscle building guru Steve Poynter, owner of www.fitnesspoynters.com. From the Fitness Poynters website:

"Over the years, I went from 130 lbs of skin and bones to 167 lbs at 3.9% bodyfat. I have bulked up to 208 lbs and cut back down to 178 lbs at 4% bodyfat. I learned how to do all of this through lots of research, and trial and error. I lived it." -- Steve Poynter (Love this guy.)

After his own transformation, Steve had a passion to help people around the world get it together. 

Funny how they had the opposite road to travel but the same destination, and yet, Sereena and Steve worked together quite swimmingly. Sereena bought a personalized program to help her shed the pounds she was tired of carrying.

"Fast forward 3 months," tells Sereena, "I'm down 20 pounds and an insane amount of inches ... losing this weight and seeing these amazing changes in my body, I wanted more. This is when the idea of a figure competition came into mind."

Sereena recalls (as do I) seeing her mother's figure magazines around the house as a kid. She always admired them, but she still had many inhibitions. She felt not good enough, that she'd need more muscle, less fat, more confidence, less shyness. Her self-esteem was still a huge factor in her life. "There was so many reasons that I "couldn't" do it."

But, like the Doer that she is, she stuck with it. She continued working with Steve, and in August 2011 Sereena did a photo shoot to track her progress. I remember the day they went up on Facebook. It was like seeing a whole other person, and I was overly thrilled to see my old friend changing in such a positive way. 

...Wow-ow!

The shoot inspired something in Sereena. She decided to do a competition and set a goal of June 2012. She started packing on the muscle, but when her close friends got engaged, they set the date for the day of the competition. 

Bros and hoes before rips and curls, I suppose. 

It turned out to be a positive hurtle, as it gave Sereena more time to prepare. 

And that she did! As her confidence soared and her abilities excelled, Sereena prepped herself more and more and amped herself up enough to sign up again for a competition. 

When I asked Sereena to write about her experience, one thing she said was this: 

"I'll never know what I can become if I keep second guessing myself." 

And so, with that, she stopped the negative BS and started the positive thinking. And on Saturday, October 6th, Sereena Gayton will be taking part in her very first fitness competition at the Winspear Centre in Edmonton.

One of my favourite things about Sereena's tranformation is not her stellar, hot bod, or her seriously good looking photos, or her legs, or thighs... I digress. What I LOVED about Sereena's tranformation was her rampant positivity. Here are some examples of things she now posts on Facebook (literally stolen from her page):

They can be so easy to build but so hard to knock down.

This actual picture scared the shit out of me.

I just... I just can't not love this.

After 21 months of preparation, she's learned a thing or two. Like the real and honest fact that just having the option of trying this is a blessing, "I'm thankful that I am able to do this; and I wake up every morning and tell myself that."

"Completing this challenge means so much to me but I can't quite explain what it is, maybe one day I will be able to put it into words, but for now it will stay in my heart." 

 Some final thoughts from Sereena as she takes this huge, amazing step into her future: 

"Take it one step at a time, and one day you will make it to where you want to be. Where I want to be is on that stage to showcase the work I put into myself. Contest prep was only 12 weeks, but it still took me almost two years to realize where I really wanted to be and what I really wanted to be doing. 

"Work hard, research, ask lots of questions, learn from others, remember what you are working towards and I promise you will get there."

Sereena, you've inspired me since the day I saw those pictures. We can all achieve our goals, even if we don't know exactly what they are yet, as long as we have the willingness to give it a try. 

So, what can you expect from a Fitness Competition? I'll let a professional tell you (Pssst, it's Sereena):

"A competition has several categories, bikini, fitness, figure, bodybuilding, physique. Each category has different expectations for the athlete including their physique, routines and posing. 

"I'm doing figure, which includes a physique assessment of the overall athletic appearance, grooming; hair and facial beauty; development of muscle, having a proportionate body; the condition of the skin and skin tone and athlete's ability to present herself with confidence, poise and grace. 

"Basically you should be the total package." 

And my dear, you are. 

(Some photos removed August 06 2014 as requested)

Thoughts on today.

If you really want to do it, you will. You’ll talk to that boy, or that girl. You’ll go to the gym. You’ll eat healthy food. You’ll buy clothes that fit you and make you feel cute or sexy or attractive or comfortable or whatever it is you want to do. You'll get rid of those negative relationships or thoughts or actions.

Wait. That's the wrong way to put it.

All of these things are hard to do, on some level. Especially when you’re making a decision to do one of these things for the first time. But why do we have this disconnect between how we see ourselves in the future, how we want to be, and being that person?

Because the first list are actions. Not goals. These actions lead to goals. But maybe it’s because we’re simple humans, or maybe it’s because we’re complex [read: busy], so we have trouble connecting the ideas with the goals. We have trouble completing the actions necessary to reach our goals. Or, rather, starting the actions.

For example, you think, I want to write a book. Ok! Yay! I've decided what to do!

Now, do it... But it's not one action, it's many. And keeping motivated and on track throughout those many many many many actions is hard. 

But I truly believe that if you really want to do it, you will. So the solution to welding together that missing link?

Want it. Want it badly. Want it with every thought and every word and every action. Want your future to be strong, want it to be different, want it to be perfect in your own sense, want it to be healthy and smart and horribly adventurous.

If that's what you want, of course.

Also, don’t be lazy and quit making excuses that you and I both know are bollocks.


Ps, my October Doer of the Month will be coming early this month! Look for it tomorrow!