Vanessa 2006 |
If your goal is to lose weight
and get healthy in 2012, and need some inspiration to get started
then look no further than Vanessa
Bartley. Once upon a time Vanessa was that girl who sat on the couch (and in bed) eating chips and drinking soft drinks, she was a heavy smoker and thought the gym was for posers. However she decided one day to get her act together and joined Jenny Craig and lost 10kg and became their spokesperson appearing in TV ad campaigns in the process! |
Vanessa 2011 |
| Since then she has made a journey into living
healthy and has competed in many bodybuilding shows.
Although she has achieved great success in her competitions Vanessa
still thinks winning her battle with weight is her greatest
achievement so far. Find out more about Vanessa and how she won the battle with the bulge in this interview! |
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Occupation: I own a Beauty Therapy business in Whangamta (Invigorate Health Body) Age: 39 Just
Family: I have 1 child who is 13 going on 18 and of course you know Jason
Height: 1.6m Contest Weight: 54kg Off season Weight: 58kg
Have you always been into fitness and exercise? What did you do before bodybuilding? Hell no.... (I hope no one takes offence to that word) Smoked up a storm and drank like a fish! I hated gyms, I stereo typed everyone who ever went into gyms. I thought they were full of men who went to perve at women and women who thought they were god's gift to men. I think a lot of people have that perception. I talk to a lot of women in my job and they often tell me they have never set foot inside a gym for the same reasons I never did. I used to play a lot of squash, finally retiring my racket as a low B grade player. So I was reasonable fit (prior to having my daughter) but a little, ok maybe a lot heavier. I used to get terrible asthma, sometimes having to come off the court during a squash game to get some air into my lungs. But instead of giving up the fags, I would race outside after every match to full them full of smoke. The things we do!!!! |
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Hard to
believe you were overweight. How heavy were you at your
heaviest? At my heaviest I was probably close to 70kg which for my frame was pretty big. I used to suffer terribly with lower back pain, and at least once every 6 months had to make a trip to the hospital to be put on a nebulizer, which is a machine designed to help you breath, I had terrible asthma. |
| I knew smoking didn't help
But I kept smoking always saying "hey you got to die of something'
as a smoker I was full of excuses. To be honest
I was worried about gaining extra weight if I gave up
smoking. This was probably when I was in my
early 20's. So a while ago
now. I lost weight around that time by going to
Jenny Craig in Hamilton, I lost quite a bit of weight, I can't
remember exactly how much, but I did not finish the programme
completely. I did become a life member which
helped me later on to get to where I am now. So
this all happened well before I met Jason (Bart), he never knew me
in those days. He was probably off playing rugby
in Hong Kong, on his journey to be a fat man! Both you
and Jason were heavy back then, did you think you were that fat and
unhealthy while you were in the
moment? |
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What was
your images/thoughts about bodybuilding dieting and training vs
what we actually do? |
| I used to watch them training together and at certain times I would see them leaning down. Back then bodybuilding intrigued me. I wanted to get into it back then, but had no idea who to contact or what to do. My friends who used to come to my classes said I should look into it but it seemed more like a pie in the sky. | |
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What inspired you to take the next step and take up bodybuilding diet and training? When did you start weight training for bodybuilding or have you always done it. Other than teaching pump at the gym I did not do weights. I never went into the weights section of the gym. I enjoyed doing cardio and teaching pump, that was enough for me. I loved motivating the people in my class. A lot of the women in my classes saw me transform while I was on Jenny Craig so to them I was a ‘real person'. We all have part of our body we which were different, for me it was my legs, especially my knees. When I moved to Whangamata Jason used to get up most mornings and head to the gym. He has always lifted weights. I used to roll over and growl at him because he had woken me. I was becoming a slob again! And I hated it.
It was around this time I lost my grandmother. She died of cancer. She was a smoker like me and one of the last things she ever said to me was "oh ness I wish I had never smoked, I wish I could turn the clock back'. This played on my mind big time, still does. I didn't want my daughter to watch me die of any terminal illness, so I gave up smoking. And to be honest it was easy. I was ready. No one we knew smoked, I didn't smoke during the day because of my job. It was purely social for me. When I drank I smoked, but because I drank a lot I smoked a lot. Anyway, I gave up smoking, that's what changed things for me because when I stopped smoking I took up eating and I began to grow and grow and grow, I was getting fat again.
I then got talking to one of the ladies that worked out our local gym Bodywork. She had done a bodybuiling competition, she suggested I look at doing a competition. It would be a good distraction, and it would enable me to get my eating under control and lose some weight. It would also teach me how to change my eating habits.
I have just
asked Jason this question and he said "I would not have done it
without you, it never would have entered my
mind". When I decided I was going to do a comp
Jason said oh well I might as well do it with
you. And the rest as they say is
history. Now we are a good
team. I feel like we are that couple I used to
watch in the gym in the Mount. People always say
it must make it easier doing this
together. And I guess to a certain extent
it is, but it also isn't.
What has bodybuilding taught you about eating, training and managing a healthy lifestyle? That you should never eat to feel full. Food is about survival not satisfaction. Don't get me wrong, I love food, but the food I used to eat does not go in my mouth in great quantities anymore. I can't eat bread, I am completely gluten intolerant, I don't enjoy sugar, it gives me headaches, and I can't stand missing a morning at the gym.
How many years have you been competing? Your achievements? I am my 3rd year of training. I have had some good achievements and have been really pleased with all my results, especially this year. But to be totally honest my biggest achievement has not involved a bikini or tanning products. My biggest achievement has been losing weight, being happy in my skin and becoming a nonsmoker. I have given myself a higher chance of survival. That's my biggest achievement.
What was your typical day in your pre contest training and cardio programme? Can you give a sample week in your training? At the moment our training is centered on growth so we are doing 3- 4 pyramid sets of low reps, as heavy as we can. I train with Jason every morning, we spot each other, so we are always challenging ourselves and pushing each other to get that last rep out. Our training programme is exactly the same.
Monday AM Chest & Biceps, Cardio PM Tuesday Legs Wednesday AM Cardio Thursday AM Spin (I teach this class) Friday AM Shoulders Saturday AM Back, Triceps Sunday REST
You're
now just entering the ‘off season', how much weight will you let
yourself put on to be comfy with? For the last
2 years my off season weight has been around 60 -
62kg. I have not enjoyed being this weight, so I
am maintaining my weight this year at 58kg.
Which has actually been really easy. Tarren
McCall does all our nutrition, and she is
amazing. She has so much knowledge and she has
some great recipes. So we have lots of options
in our diet, and I think that's half the battle, because we have
lots of options we never get sick of what we eat.
Have you had a role model who's inspired you? Not really.
What's your ultimate goal in Bodybuilding? Just to keep doing this for as long as I can and to be the best I can be. I have had a really good year this year, I have enjoyed every show, and I can't wait till next year!
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What advice would you give to women who want to compete? Do it!!!!!... There are so many bodybuilders out there whose journey is just like mine, some journeys have bigger. I couldn't believe my eyes when Greg Mawson showed me his before photo. I think he looks amazing and knowing how hard it was for me makes me realize just how hard it was for him. |
| And there are so many body
builders out there who have struggled with their weight, and if you
asked each of those people what their highlight has been they would
probably say educating themselves about food, learning about their
bodies, and most importantly, how good the clean food makes them
feel. People have this preconceived idea that
body building is unhealthy. My clients see me pre contest and some of my older clients worry about me (bless them) they worry I am too thin, they worry I am tired and looked weltered. But because I have such a good nutritionist and everything is balanced perfectly I had not had so much as a snivel for the last 3 years. I feel better than I ever felt and I will continue to live this way even when I am not competing anymore. If anyone out there is thinking about doing something like this, find a good nutritionist. Ours is amazing. Tarren is super supportive, and her wealth of knowledge is invaluable. Once you have a good nutrionist on board, get a Personal Trainer, tell them what you want to do and ask them to put together a programme for you. Circle a date on the Body Building calendar, and get to work. I remember the first day in the gym after we had decided on a date and got our programmes. I had to row for 5 mins as a warm up. I kid you not, I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest, I didn't think I was going to be able to do that row. But do you know what, I can row for 45 mins now - no worries. |
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