Summary: Today we have an interview with Carla. She placed 6th in the Open Category Level 1 in the latest Venus Index Contest. Check out her pictures: Carla was always pretty active. She did mountain biking, swimming and even tried running marathons. But as she approached 160 pounds she realized that she wasn't in the shape she wanted. She was interested in fitness and wanted it to be a part of her life, so she started looking around the Internet for some advice on how to get in shape. She ran into some bodybuilding website and fitness pros. And she really wanted to look like them, so she downloaded some bodybuilding split workouts and started following them. Contest & the Permission to Be Light Last year things changed, because Carla found one of the Venuses - Stephanie and thanks to her the Venus Index. She bought the program, got into the community and just followed the protocols immediately. And she got results! That's what happens when you set a goal, take it seriously and you are ready to take action. When you listen to the interview, you will notice that Carla is one of those women that doesn't ask a bunch of questions before trying something new and isn't arguing whether it will work for her or not before she's even attempted it. And that's probably the easiest road to success. We've even had people downloading the workouts and following the plans without reading the manual. They learned it all by experience. Not that we recommend skipping the manuals, but the best thing you can do is to try the system and judge by results. And that's exactly what Carla did. After a couple of months, she got in great shape, started getting comments on her fit physique and found some wonderful women in the Venus Community. And when she saw the possibility to compete in one of the Venus Index Contests, she jumped right in. Most people are afraid of putting themselves out there, however Carla and her "Get it done and get out" attitude translated into seeing the contest as a no brainer. For the contest Carla ate very low in calories, she even admits being afraid to eat up to 1600 that the Reverse Taper calculator suggested her. For the training she followed the Venus Index Workout Phase 1 and then progressed to phase 2. In the interview she talks about giving yourself permission to be light. This is mostly a problem that guys run into, especially thanks to our social conditioning that leads them to believe they have to be big to earn respect, however even women seems to find the idea of being too light mentally challenging. The truth is that there is no perfect weight for all women. The weight will differ based on the height, and genetics. Only you can determine what your best, healthiest, and happiest weight is once you arrive there and see a figure you like, and feel good about it. And as you are losing fat, don't be afraid to be light. You'll never know for sure until you get there. You have to realize that what you see on the scale is just a number that tells nothing about your body without considering muscle mass, proportion, Venus Index, conditioning, and most importantly how you feel. That scale number is only relevant when you combine it with your height and most importantly a picture pinned next to it. It simply doesn't say whether you look good or whether you are healthy. So, don't take it as an indicator of either of those. When you reach your Venus Index metrics, or as close to them as you'd like to get you may not weigh at all what you expected. This could mean you will be heavier than you expected, but it could also mean you're lighter than you expected. There is no one ideal bodyweight for you, there is only a range. And within that range you will have to discover what fits best for you. Expect Some Blow Back & A Lot of Attention Carla talks with a lot of men and has to entertain them during the day for her job so her body is something that always comes up.
