Summary: Today we have an interview with Gillian Chase who placed sixth in the third Venus Index Contest in the Open Category. Check out her photos: It Took Her Six Months to Get on Board When Gillian first encountered the Venus Index Program, it took her six months of listening to the podcasts until she decided to jump on board and follow the workout. Once she read through the program she realized that unlike everything else she'd heard of, this made complete sense to her. Especially after her training and diet history. She has been working out on and off from the age of 12 and has tried just about every diet there is, paleo, vegetarianism, veganism, counting macro-nutrients, six bodybuilding meals a day...just to name a few. She always felt completely burnt out. The whole industry was making her sick and she needed a break from all this. In the past she somehow understood that it's all about the energy intake and expenditure. However, she got mislead by the fitness industry into believing things like her metabolism was broken and that she needs to eat six meals a day to keep it healthy. She also believed that there is good food and bad food. In the past she has been in a similar shape, but could only sustain it for a short period of time and the effort it took to get there was enormous. She would rebound after summer and always crave sweets, thinking about chocolate 24/7 and would act grumpy or bitchy (her own words). Why? Well, she couldn't eat what she wanted. She wouldn't eat what her body craved, so it affected her emotions and behavior. That is pretty logical, if you won't allow your body what it craves, it will crave it even more. Venus Index changed it, she could get in shape, maintain her new body for more than a summer and enjoy it all. Gillian is no longer in a constant bad mood and feels awesome since she allows herself to eat what she craves from time to time. And that is the key, to eat what you crave in a small dose. Not overdo it, take just a bit and either leave the rest for later or throw it away, if you can't keep your hands off it. The rebound process after getting in shape is pretty common for people like fitness models and bodybuilders. For example a competitor who does a crash style diet may lose in excess of 20-3o pounds for their show in a short period of time, however this same person can then regain in excess of 30-40 pounds right after it. This is a BIG rebound. Gillian would follow a similar process since she was friends with a fitness model, like she said, the model looked great on stage, but what Gillian didn't see was how out of shape the model looked for the rest of the year. Now it comes down what YOU want. Super cut shape for the day of a show or amazing body year round? Contest & Post-Contest Since she had a history of overdoing things, she told herself that she is not going to put too much pressure on herself and risk getting back to the strict and crazy lifestyle. At the beginning she wanted to just shadow the contest. Health was more important for her at this stage. Ironically enough she got in a great shape and placed. She was determined to take it to the end and prove herself and to others that she can get in shape with less effort, a less strict diet and while being happy everyday and not grumpy towards her friends. She also made a deal that it will be her every day look at the photoshoot. She didn't want to only look amazing for the photoshoot and then rebound afterwards like she did in the past. And at the end she placed in the fitness contest, didn't rebounded and felt great during the whole transformation. Take Home Message from Gillian: Trust yourself and trust the Venus Index concept Be aware of your limitations Work with what you got, you can always get better, compare yourself to yourself only If you look already good and want to look even better, it’s not obsession, it’s about being happy,
