Rutha Berhane: Hi, everybody.
Arabella: Hello everybody. Welcome back
Rutha Berhane: Welcome back.
Arabella: to the Consistency Code Podcast. If you're not watching the video right now, as we are waiting for the countdown to start on this recording, Rutha goes smile. So we're both sitting there smiling and she's like, We look like serial killers. It's
Rutha Berhane: No, the smile was kinda crazy, I can't lie. Just we were just so excited, that's why.
Arabella: It was kind of crazy I totally highlight of my week is yapping on here for an hour. So fun,
Rutha Berhane: Exactly.
Arabella: so fun. But anywho, on that note, what are we gonna be yapping about today? Do you wanna introduce it?
Rutha Berhane: Yes, so this is episode 34. we are gonna be doing a topic about if bodybuilding is actually worth it and if we would do it all over again, knowing what we know now and the process and everything, would we come back and say, let me let me start again? Yeah.
Arabella: Mm-hmm. this is gonna be a really interesting topic 'cause I always think it's hilarious when people are like, my god, I don't know how you do that. Like
Rutha Berhane: You know what?
Arabella: that is so extreme. Like I love food way too much. Like
Rutha Berhane: That one. Yeah, I love food. I can't do it.
Arabella: I my god, I could not imagine like eating the same thing every day. Like how
Rutha Berhane: Every single day. Yeah.
Arabella: do you do it? Like my god, you go to the gym twice a day, like, for cardio and to lift, like
Rutha Berhane: And it's with that exact same tone too. I could
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: never
Arabella: I can't even get ten thousand steps a day. Like what do you mean you you track your water? You weigh out your w wait your water and your salt.
Rutha Berhane: That's too much work. That I can't do that. I can't do that.
Arabella: That's cra yeah. That's crazy. That's crazy.
Rutha Berhane: And it's like I I
Arabella: Wait wait, you weigh out every single gram of food. So like that is so disordered.
Rutha Berhane: That's disordered. That's just so disordered. No, couldn't do that. I'm more of just like, you know, intuitive eating and just trying to portion out my meals.
Arabella: I just eat what makes me feel good.
Rutha Berhane: that was a good one. What makes me feel good? You know what? A a five pound tub of chocolate would make my heart really happy right now.
Arabella: You know what makes me feel good is the two blizzards I ate last n
Rutha Berhane: That that's that shit that makes feel good. Okay. The next day, not so much, but it makes me feel good for the second for sure. should we actually say? Yesterday Bella sent me a picture and she said, you know, like she got a two for one coupon. So she's at D DQ and little did I know, she was there. I was there. So I sent her a
Arabella: Hilarious
Rutha Berhane: Picture back.
Arabella: guys, like Rutha and I's brains have to be intertwined at this point because
Rutha Berhane: It's they're connected.
Arabella: yeah, I I got this two for one coupon in my mailbox, so obviously I was gonna go redeem it. And I got two two mini
Rutha Berhane: Utilize a
Arabella: blizzards. To be fair, they were minis. I could have gotten too
Rutha Berhane: Me too.
Arabella: could have gotten too large, which would have been more bang for my buck, but we're keeping it tame, okay? And I send Rutha
Rutha Berhane: We can speak you.
Arabella: the picture because you know we both appreciate a good sweet treat. And she literally sends me a picture in the Dairy Queen drive-thru at the same Like, what are the odds we
Rutha Berhane: my gosh, me too, girl.
Arabella: did not plan that? So funny, so funny. Yes. Mm-hmm.
Rutha Berhane: Mm mm. We're just we're just so locked like that that it's just it this happens all the time. All the time. And if I get a sweet treat that day, she has to go get one. I she has to go get one. Yeah. And I'll
Arabella: And vice versa. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: always say yes. I'll always I can never turn it down. Mm mm.
Arabella: If we lived together we would be obese.
Rutha Berhane: That would actually like that would that would not be that would not be cute, I don't think. But yeah.
Arabella: We're a bad influence, but no. Jokes aside, it's important to enjoy the the little things in the off season. We aren't robots
Rutha Berhane: Exactly, exactly.
Arabella: at the end of the day. We are human. But yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: Yeah, we're getting a little bit sidetracked. ADHD brain.
Rutha Berhane: Sorry, happens all the time. But yeah. yeah, we're gonna be, you know, mm starting off with the sacrifices that we've made for the physiques that we actually have today, whether it be the offseason or not, we still worked and sacrificed certain things to be where we are. and is it actually everything worth everything that we give up for it? You know what I mean? people see the stage photos, the final look, the glam, the lean physique, the abs, the veins. but nobody really cares for what went into it to get there, right? We see people
Arabella: think a lot of people, yeah, are like on I don't use this word lightly but l or frequently but like ignorant to the behind the scenes of bodybuilding.
Rutha Berhane: Yes. Yes. A hundred percent.
Arabella: especially that's something I've especially learned since like growing my platform on Instagram is people genuinely believe I woke up like this. And
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: okay, woke up like the way I look right now, but even worse, like in prep. When I was like
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: literally dick skin shredded. People think I just walk around
Rutha Berhane: That's right.
Arabella: like that, woke up like that year round, you know? Like
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: they assume I've never been overweight a day in my life, like never had any body fat on me. I just am like that. No.
Rutha Berhane: Like you don't know the struggle, like you don't know it 'cause you woke up like that.
Arabella: No. And they think that that's like normal and they think that that's something that I maintain year round and like
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: It's always crazy when people are like, I wanna look like you I'm like, Babe, you're never gonna look like me but yes, we we can do things to improve your physique, but you're not gonna
Rutha Berhane: And I don't think you want to because this is a stage where I don't think you want to get to for fun, please. Yeah.
Arabella: Mhm. Yeah, they don't they don't know about the the sixty ninety minute cardio sessions, the sub thousand calories, the next to no carbs.
Rutha Berhane: carbless meals, yeah, and like just the early mornings, the meal prep, the cardio,
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: the, you know, social events that you you have to say no to at a certain point, the money spent on this, the posing, just everything. Like it's j it's not just dieting, which people just think like, okay, you're just dieting and that's it. But there's so much more that goes into it. And like Bella said, like the ignorant part of what goes into that people don't really choose to look at. You know.
Arabella: Exactly, exactly. Yeah, there's so much that goes into it that people are not aware of. But yeah, we're we're gonna unpack all of that. but let's start off with chatting about how we got into bodybuilding and why did we start bodybuilding. I know we've talked about this on early episodes of this podcast, I would say,
Rutha Berhane: Yes.
Arabella: but it's been a while since we talked about our stories and yeah, why did we
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: start bodybuilding? What initially attracted you to bodybuild.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, like we previously like stated in the past, it was for me, I was just looking for, you know, the next step in my fitness journey personally, because I was at this point already in the gym and so on. And then I remember literally the first day that I saw a female bodybuilder on Instagram and my eyes were just drawn right away. Like right away it was this is what I wanted. do. Like it was just in my head and that's it. But then that's when I had to ask around and be like, What is this though? And what goes into it and stuff like that. So when I did that, I came from already a background of, you know, like binge eating. I came from, you know, like I I don't wanna say like over overweight, but I I had a substantial amount of body fat on me that You don't want to just like keep around, you know what I mean? Because it wasn't benefiting my health. It wasn't like damaging it, but it just wasn't beneficial. So then I started and I fell in love with it and here we are.
Arabella: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Similar for me. I grew up playing a lot of sports. I was competitive, very competitive in rowing during high school, which is a very mentally demanding sport in and of itself, physically and mentally demanding, but there is a huge mental piece to it too. And then long story short, I went to university. I cold turkeyed all sports. Like I was barely even going to the gym. My eating habits started to go down the drain because at the time there is like very limited healthy options on campus for food and I lived on campus first year and I started to gain weight and I started to like really lose sense of who I was. I hated how I looked in the mirror. My clothes weren't fitting right anymore. I hated every single picture that was taken of me. And that had never been an issue for me before because genetically I'm very, very lucky that I'm not predisposed to excess body fat. you know, I'd always been lean. I literally was like a lightweight rower in high school. I even was a coxie for the rowing team as well at one point, which coxies like they're they're very, very small people because you have to be very small and like fit in this tiny little section of the rowboat. And you want your coxswain to be as light as possible so you're not like The rowers aren't pulling excess weight, but anyway, sidetrack. I really started to mourn being competitive in a sport and pushing myself. And so I was like, hey, I'm gonna start going to the gym again, give me something to focus on, you know, hopefully like lose a little bit of this body fat that I had gained. And when I started in the gym, there's a couple guys in my gym who were bodybuilders, so I was like kinda watching their prep and I even had some people come up to me and be like, Are you bodybuilding? Like have you thought about bodybuilding? And honestly I was like, What are you talking about? Like what even really is that? like I I knew about like male bodybuilding, but like wasn't really super familiar with the women's divisions. And I had a bunch of people telling me I should compete and I was like, you know what? Fuck it, let's do it. I wanna push myself mentally again. I wanna be competitive in something again. I also felt myself losing my passion for the gym, which like I had always loved strength training and going to the gym and I'm a very goal driven person, so I needed a goal to work towards again, other than just like pushing for a bench PR. So
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, I'm
Arabella: I was like, you know what? Yeah, let's do it. Hired my coach literally six months later, stepped on stage. And should I have stepped on stage? Like, I wish I'd given myself a little more time to grow, but it was a great experience. Yeah, yeah. And it was exactly what
Rutha Berhane: But it was your first show. Yeah, first show.
Arabella: I needed at that point in time. It gave me direction in my life again when it was lacking direction. And you know, it improved my my self confidence, and it really like dictated a new path and direction for my life. Like had I not gone down that path, I probably wouldn't be where I am today, you know, running my own coaching business and competitively bodybuilding and yeah, my the whole trajectory of my life could be different, which is crazy to even think about.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: And I do remember at the time as well when I started prep, like my friends at the time, like none of them were bodybuilders and I'm still friends with them to this day, but like they were all like, Wow, like I could never do what you're doing. Like you have so much discipline and like I remember, you know, like going out for like dinner and drinks and stuff with them, but like either eating beforehand or like bringing my scale with me if I needed to, bringing my meal prep with me, like, you know doing two cardio sessions a day, like doing everything I needed to do and they were just kind of like in awe of it. and it is, yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. It's different, right? And usually like you're usually when you start it and there's nobody else around you that like from your circle or like whatever did it, you're kind of opening that world up to them. So everybody's just learning together. So that's like a pretty cool part too.
Arabella: Totally, totally. And especially watching me like transition from partying
Rutha Berhane: yeah.
Arabella: all the time to like going in the complete opposite direction. I'm like, guys, I can't drink no more alcohol.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. No more alcohol, which is I think that's the biggest shock that I still even can't get used to properly. Like sometimes I'm like, but yeah. No, that's true. But knowing
Arabella: Yeah, yeah. and
Rutha Berhane: sorry.
Arabella: I was just gonna say did it did require a lot of sacrifice. and
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: it does, but like I don't even really look at it as sacrifice because it's something that I genuinely enjoy doing. You know, sure, like some people would say giving up alcohol is a sacrifice, but like to me, I'm like, honestly, like to give up alcohol to do something that makes me feel good brings me so much joy, and something I'm so passionate about is not a sacrifice. Like, alcohol is always gonna be
Rutha Berhane: Okay.
Arabella: there. I can have it like whenever I want it, but to give it up for a short duration, relatively short duration of time is like not that big of a deal.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. And when you're in prep, you don't usually notice that you're not drinking, honestly, because there's so much going on that that's like the last thing on your head. I think. Yeah.
Arabella: No. Literally. It's the last thing you think about, yeah.
Rutha Berhane: You're you're thinking about probably like, I'm exhausted or I'm hungry. Not let me. I miss the vodka that I used to drink. Like that's the last thing, right? But that brings us to our portion of what we actually sacrificed. A more in detail. explanation of what kind of truly goes into it because yes, we we've always talked about it kind of lightly here and there, but kind of opening up the whole like opening up Pandora's box, right? for those who are wondering. And I'm gonna start off strong first with social life being a really big thing. And I think this is the one that kind of shocks people because all of us are usually social butterflies, especially with our friends and we tend to hang out with our friends and do this and that. But When you're at a certain point in prep, you kind of have to put a pause on a lot of things because a certain amount of weeks out you are genuinely drained and you only have so much energy and you already have things to do that need to get your day done, right? So it gets to a point where you're missing dinners, parties, birthdays, events, vacations is a really big thing. people don't know this, but at a certain point, traveling. becomes a big no-no just because depending on where you're going, bringing food. If there's no food there that you if you're going all all inclusive and you can't really go and shop for food, or training and cardio, that gets pretty tight for you. So that's something that people do hone down on after a certain point in in prep or where they're going to, or like spontaneous plans and just having to plan your day around things like your Meals, training, cardio s steps and if you have to go to work or school.
Arabella: Yeah, and like I will say that in prep, like you don't have to give up your social life entirely. It just more so is a pivot from planning social activities around food. instead
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: of doing that, plan social activities around literally anything else, and there is a lot you can do socially that does not revolve around food and I honestly think it's like kind of a a flaw in our society these days where like everything is so food focused when we should be socializing, to make memories and to enjoy the company and quality time of the people that we're with rather than making it so focused on the food. Like, why do we always have to like go out for dinner or go for drinks or like go try this new place or whatever. Like, yes, I know it's fun and like I'm a huge foodie, so I totally get it. But at the same time, like
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: we often forget that there's so many other things that we can do that are not food focused, especially in the summertime. I know it's a little bit harder in the wintertime in Canada. Like our options are limited. We don't want to go outside and like go for a hike or go for a walk
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: or whatever. But Yeah, there's there's tons of options and you just have to get creative with it. so yeah, you don't need to cut out your social life entirely, but you do I guess make a sacrifice when it comes to food and drinks. And then yeah, like Rutha has said, once you get to a certain point in prep, you just are so tapped out, you really have no extra energy to expend on socializing, which is like sad in a sense, but that's usually just the very tail end of prep.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: And that's also when rest and recovery becomes of utmost importance too. Like, you know, you need to prioritize and get as much sleep and rest as you can. And like when you're already doing X amount of steps, X amount of cardio every day, sometimes you just really don't have it in you to go get ready and go out and expend more energy. It's like even walking to the fridge to get your meal seems like a lot of work. So yeah. Yeah. But
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: It does require sacrifice, yeah, in the sense that ev your your world basically, your day revolves around bodybuilding. Cause you have so many boxes to tick, but I think that's a reason why we do what we do in bodybuilders, bodybuild is cause we love the rigidity, we love the discipline, we love the structure that it brings to us. So yeah, there's there's
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, thirteen, yeah.
Arabella: pros and cons to both and it really does come down to perspective as well. I will say you can look at it as as a sacrifice or you can look at it as as a blessing and at the end of the day nobody's forcing you to do this. So people are like, my god, I have to go do my cardio. I I can't like I wish I could come out but I can't like maybe flip your perspective. You know, you signed up for this and it's temporary and we you
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. Exactly.
Arabella: know, we wanna be doing this. So yeah, to me it's not a sacrifice, but that's just
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Arabella: my own. My own take.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. And it's I think it's just people missing that spontaneous aspect of their life doing those twenty plus weeks that people just can't really let go
Arabella: Mm-hmm. Yeah. For sure.
Rutha Berhane: of because you can't get up on a whim and say, Today I'm gonna do this. No, it's hey, first I need to go do my cardio and this and that. So Now, unfortunately, which is good.
Arabella: Literally. No spontaneous Dairy Queen runs. But hey, that's why we take extended off seasons so we can enjoy our life outside of bodybuilding.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, but do you wanna tell us about like since you brought up Dairy Queen, like the food freedom aspect of it too, which is a really big one?
Arabella: It is a really big one. and one thing I've learned is that like I think the longer duration of time I go without eating high dopamine foods like sweet treats, stuff with more sugar in it, the less I crave it.
Rutha Berhane: Two feet. True. Yeah.
Arabella: And I think that goes, yeah, for everyone because sugar sugar is a a dopamine. hit, right? So the more you eat it, the more you're gonna crave it. And the longer you
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Arabella: go without it, the less you're gonna crave it. And in prep you you really become so locked into your routine and eating the same meals every day, that there comes a point where you don't even really think about food. I mean, it's different for everyone. I know some people really do struggle with cravings, but I'm not entirely all that food focused in prep and honestly if I This the day I start watching food review videos is like when it all goes downhill for me. It's like once you go down that rabbit hole, you cannot get rid of it, and it's like all you think about for the rest of your prep.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: also, yeah, it's it's such a temporary thing. It's like your season is like twenty three thirty weeks tops depending on how many shows you're doing and how spaced out they are. And if you take an extended off season after that, or not even extended, just an off season, then you do get a lot more free food freedom and flexibility into your diet. At least I think you should. Like I'm a big, big promoter of tracking your macros in your off season, just so that you do have the room to incorporate different foods.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: include nutrient variety and have the flexibility to go out for a free meal and go for a treat if you want it. Like obviously in moderation, like don't be eating like an asshole, but you also in the off season don't need to obviously be as disciplined as you are in prep. So
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, that's a good one.
Arabella: Yeah, that's thinking.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. and then there's also the portion of sleep and recovery where people are not gonna be really understanding when we say being in prep or just bodybuilding as a whole, you feel this kind of this certain level of exhaustion that it's not really. Best shown by explaining it. You just have to experience it, I think. because you at a certain point, you have to wake up super early for your cardio if you have cardio twice a day post-workout and fasted or whatever. And just the training around work and school, needing enough sleep to recover, but then at a certain point in prep a few weeks out, you can't really get that proper sleep because your body is in such a sensitive spot that sleep is hindered quite a bit. So The exhaustion that you feel throughout your day-to-day is going to affect you not just physically but sometimes mentally too. You know what I mean? This is where people feel really drained and then the emotions are just everywhere. So there's a level of tiredness that you are expected to handle. And that's where the conversation of bodybuilding is a choice at the end of the day comes in. Because yes, you're gonna be exhausted, you're gonna be tired, sometimes you might hate what you're doing, but Remembering why you started it and why you're in this is the biggest help for us. Like every day at
Arabella: Mm-hmm.
Rutha Berhane: what at like two, three weeks out, I was done. I was exhausted. I was ready for it to be over, but not in the sense of I regret doing this, but in the sense of okay, I'm ready to see like the final result I've put my time in. I'm so tired, but I loved what I was doing, even if some days I was crying to sleep. trying myself to sleep. And I have
Arabella: Yeah. Yeah. And
Rutha Berhane: a few times, I have.
Arabella: Yeah, you did have a very extreme prep too, you had to really, really push to get lean enough.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: but that's when it is so important to be s crystal clear on your why. Why am I doing this? Why did I sign up for this and remind yourself of that why and remind yourself of how good it's gonna feel when you do get to the endpoint, when you step on that stage. And I think stepping on that stage feels so much more rewarding when, you know, you
Rutha Berhane: percent.
Arabella: you push through the nitty-gritty of it. The the days where you genuinely just wanted to cry all day and quit and give up. But that is part of the sport is pushing yourself. Like nobody is meant to be walking around with like veins on their stomach and veins on their legs, you know? Like you have to push to the extreme in order to achieve an extreme look like that. And
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, like if if you want better, y sometimes you just have to push harder. And that's just yeah. And your why will always w win.
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Once you understand your why, that will always be at the forefront, helping you the whole time.
Arabella: Yes, yes. And for lifestyle clients, if you're listening to this, more does not always mean more. This is yeah. This is bodybuilding specific. please
Rutha Berhane: Yes, that's time and place. Time and place.
Arabella: do not go slashing your calories because your calories are probably already low enough and that's why you're stuck.
Rutha Berhane: No, yeah.
Arabella: but I digress.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: Yeah, like bodybuilder or not, you need to be you need to understand why you're doing it. And if you're not clear on that why, I think that's when people feel like, I'm just lacking motivation and like I don't feel like doing it. It's because you're not clear on your why. Are you doing this for you? Are you doing this for your kids? Are you doing this to improve your confidence? Are you doing this to fit better in your clothes? Are you doing this for a certain event that's coming up, like a wedding?
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: Like, are you doing this to push yourself mentally and prove to yourself that you're capable of hard things? Get clear on your why and then showing up and checking your boxes every day will feel so much better and so much easier.
Rutha Berhane: Very true.
Arabella: Now moving on to our next segment, friendships and social life. I know a lot of people struggle with this and say that they've lost friends when they started bodybuilding or that some people in their life just like don't understand why they're doing it and they think we're crazy for doing it and I I totally get it. When I first started bodybuilding my parents were like, what do you mean? Yeah. Like, what do
Rutha Berhane: We want the ass. Yeah.
Arabella: you mean you're tracking all of your food? What do you mean you're getting on a stage in a bikini and heels? Like Yes, that part.
Rutha Berhane: And turning around. And turning around. Yeah.
Arabella: Yeah. but ultimately if there are people in your life, this goes for bodybuilding and lifestyle, who are judging you for anything that you do fitness related, whether that be you know, spending an hour, hour and a half in the gym every day, whether that be saying no to social things that involve food or Bringing your food scale on like the camping trip or the girls' weekend or whatever. If they are judging you for that and don't want to associate themselves with you because of that, then like truly are they worth your energy and friendship? Because no matter what, your friend should
Rutha Berhane: They have to go.
Arabella: be supportive of your endeavors and your passions and what you want to do, and ultimately it's your life you're trying to better yourself. And normally when people are judgmental of that, it's a reflection of their own insecurities.
Rutha Berhane: Yes. And on this, like I think there's also a portion where people think that, okay, my friendships should should not change at all once once I started doing this. And that's not necessarily true. Your friendships will change and they should, but not for the reason that people think in a negative light, but in the sense of your friends you know, hopping on board that you're doing something new and exciting and something that you like and and love, hopefully, and just kind of approaching the friendship in a different light in the sense of you have to do certain things and you know your mindset is gonna be in different areas at certain stages of the year or in the next coming years or months. So your friendship should change, but not in a negative way, but in a more positive way. And it should actually better the friendship anyways. So when I hear like people talking about genuinely like, you know, when I do this, my friends make fun of me or You know, like they won't support me or this and that. Hm. They gotta go. I'm so good for cutting people off if that's the case, 'cause that's not gonna benefit you in any sense. In any sense.
Arabella: No, if they're dragging you down, then hell cut 'em out because yeah, like I said, they should be supportive of everything you're doing and they don't necessarily have to fully understand what you're doing and why you're doing, but they should still be supportive of it. And
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.
Arabella: that's that's the key. And I am still really close with some of my friends that I've known since I started since before I started bodybuilding and they are some of my biggest supporters when it comes to bodybuilding and
Rutha Berhane: yeah.
Arabella: I am so grateful for it. Like they've been my cheerleader's number one fans since day one. And even though they're not bodybuilders themselves, like it means the world to me having people who have just been like my rock through
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: it all. So yeah. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Okay. It's a really big portion. And same thing goes for partners in relationships which we've talked about previously. But, you know, if to treat the partner the same as the friends in the sense of they should be equally as supportive, if not more, because they're with you like 24-7. Like if you live with them, what whatever the case might be, if the person that you're choosing to date is not being supportive of you or just kind of dragging you down. And I've heard some people genuinely have partners horrific. Okay, who have told them like, you know, this is not a good look, like you should not be doing this, or I like I just they just won't show up for them the way that they need and the way that a partner should. And it's just that in the long run, if you want to do something and even if it might not be important to them at all, it does not matter. There's no if but or. They need to care for it because you care for it. Simple.
Arabella: A hundred percent and like I said, they may not fully understand, like it's very hard to fully understand how somebody feels in a prep unless you've gone through a prep yourself, but they still can be supportive. And on the flip of that, bodybuilding is a very selfish sport and there's no arguing that it is selfish because at the end of the day in prep, like it's you versus you, you know, you're doing everything you can to bring your best. And that does mean that you're not able to show up a hundred percent for others in your life. But that's also why it's important to have balance in your life between prep and off season. And in the off season when you're not in prep, that is your time to give back to your partner for their support during your prep. And so it is it does work out evenly in the end. so yeah, if if you know somebody, whether it be partner or just friend or family or whatever is is questioning and bringing you down and making you feel guilty, then that conversation needs to happen. But you should also be very transparent
Rutha Berhane: They gotta go.
Arabella: and upfront before you start prep about
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: what it's gonna look like, what it's gonna entail and the sacrifices that you're gonna have to make just so that everybody is like on the same page with it and nothing is unexpected. But yeah, like It's no lie that like in prep your libido's gonna come down, like you're obviously not gonna be able to go for like dinner dates. So yeah, there are sacrifices that you have to make, but it's also important too, like we talked about as well, like go on dates that don't involve food. There's so many things you can do, so many memories you can still make. Like you can even go to the movies and like go to a movie theater that has like one of those diet coke machines with like the million different flavors.
Rutha Berhane: A lot of those.
Arabella: Diet pop. Yeah, so good, so good. But yeah. Moving on from that onto the money financial side of things when it comes to bodybuilding. This is probably one of the heftiest between coaching, your gym membership, eating hella protein, it's not a cheap diet. supplements.
Rutha Berhane: No, no, no, no.
Arabella: you know, just like your daily supplements and then also if you're an enhanced athletes, PEDs, not cheap, posing coach, your CPA or NPC fee, your show registrations, oftentimes multiple classes and one show, tan, make up, I do my own hair, but hair if you're getting your hair done, travel expenses, accommodations, gas or plane tickets, bodywork. There's so much that goes into it. And like a lot of those I would write off only in the sense that like I'd be paying for them regardless of whether I'm prepping or not, such as like bodywork, gym membership. Coaching is like a year round thing, non negotiable. But all of the show day expenses and travel expenses, they they really do add up quickly.
Rutha Berhane: Does eat you
Arabella: And so that's something to be mindful of before you
Rutha Berhane: yeah
Arabella: commit to a prep too is are you financially in a good spot to handle the prep?
Rutha Berhane: Okay.
Arabella: Because the last thing that you need or want in prep is financial stress. Like you should have all of that money. And I would say like minimum five thousand dollars set aside before you start prep. And that may seem like a lot. And am I saying that every prep is gonna cost you five thousand dollars? No, but like it does add up really, really quickly and You wanna make sure it will get there, yeah. And you wanna make sure that you have that set aside so you're not stressing yourself
Rutha Berhane: And it will get it will get there easily. Easy.
Arabella: out, especially because you're likely gonna have to dial back work a little bit at the end of prep.
Rutha Berhane: The end. Yeah. And people do underestimate how much bodybuilding actually consists of financial commitment. regardless of, you know, you you you can cut corners with certain things like hair or makeup and you can do your own tan, but the big things you can't cut corners on like a cheap coach. If you get a cheap coach and they don't know what they're doing, it's gonna be a cheap result. So you kind of pay what you get for else.
Arabella: Or a cheap suit, please for the love of God, do not cheap out on your
Rutha Berhane: Stop.
Arabella: suit. I have seen horrendous suits at shows and it will
Rutha Berhane: Really, really bad.
Arabella: ruin your entire package.
Rutha Berhane: I would rather you pay what you need to for the suit and do your own makeup at the end of the day because a horrendous suit is a horrendous suit. And also you don't have
Arabella: It's that gospel.
Rutha Berhane: to you don't have to go through the route of toxic angels, like where that's an arm and a leg, yes. But there are other places that for only a few hundred less, but that says something like during an expensive prep. But once you go the route of like nobody has used this company before, you can't even see reviews and you use it. It's gonna show. But
Arabella: Mm-hmm.
Rutha Berhane: yeah, I think people need to understand that bodybuilding is a pay-to-play sport, right? You're not really
Arabella: For sure, for sure.
Rutha Berhane: getting anything out of it that's financial unless you are a very high level pro and getting endorsements and sponsorships from brands and companies. Yeah, winning shows are not
Arabella: And winning shows and that kind of thing. Yeah. But even at that point, like bodybuilding is not gonna pay your life's bills the way other sports will. especially
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, no. That
Arabella: I fucking hate to say it, especially in the the women's side of bodybuilding. the
Rutha Berhane: No doubt.
Arabella: yeah, the the endorsements and the prize money on the women's side of things is not nearly even compared to the males
Rutha Berhane: As the man.
Arabella: and we could go into a whole topic on that. you know, people argue that the males deserve more because it's a lot more extreme for them, blah blah blah, whatever you wanna argue. But that that would really that would be a big digression from this. So we'll save that for another day.
Rutha Berhane: And also, yeah, yeah.
Arabella: But yeah, ultimately like it's gonna be a financial sacrifice. I also like to look at it this way. If you are not in prep, you are spending money, more money than you realize, on fun coffees Treats, going out to eat,
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: you know, going out for dinner, all of these probably more travel as well, if you're not in prep. So does it even out at the end of the day? No,
Rutha Berhane: Pick your poison.
Arabella: but you are saving money in that respect, so you can put that towards your prep, which helps. Like I definitely spend way more money eating out in my off season, obviously.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. And people think winning, even when you're a pro like winning a show is gonna be like, okay, like I made so much that I can actually take care of my bills with this one. People sometimes people genuinely ask, like, like how much do you want it your show? At my regional show? I brought you back a trophy or a medal. They actually made me pay to be there. So I think it's just like the research aspect of that is you're not really getting anything financially out of it. It's more of Like there's I think there's way more to it, but the financial aspect,
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: yeah, you're not getting shit. Sorry.
Arabella: So literally at the regional level, like, my God, you got an athlete bag with like a pack of gum, a T shirt that you're never gonna wear again.
Rutha Berhane: I've never gotten gum, that would be a good one.
Arabella: sometimes I get really random shit that I don't want. Like I literally still have a fruit roll up in my pantry from one of my athlete bags. I'm like, why? Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Fucking lollipop.
Arabella: In what world do I want this, bro? Like I got a pack of popcorn
Rutha Berhane: Like sometimes
Arabella: full butter popcorn one time, like
Rutha Berhane: That'll piss me off. But sometimes in the States they have way better like regional show prize like Wolfpack backpacks or like belts, like an overall belt. This here we get we get nothing. We get nothing.
Arabella: I know. If you win, yeah. Yeah. Some shows are a lot better than others, I will say it depends on the promoter. But even still,
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: like you're paying like hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to compete at that show and like you get a very minimal prize pack. So or not even prize pack, goodie bag. And then yeah, sometimes the prizes are better if you win your class, win the overall. But obviously
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: that's never guaranteed. But yeah, just be
Rutha Berhane: with
Arabella: prepared financially because
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: it w it will cost you an arm and a leg. But yeah, moving on to
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, what
Arabella: the mental side of things, which I th I would argue is like the biggest sacrifice when it comes to bodybuilding. Because once you see yourself at your leanest,
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, mm-hmm.
Arabella: you will look at yourself differently for a long time. afterwards because that is your new baseline. Like you see yourself stage lean and then all of a sudden twenty pounds up from that, which is like a healthy body weight, feels obese in comparison.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's bodybuilding fat and there is regular fat is what I like to truly talk about
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: because our brain will literally say, you are actually the largest person in this world today. But it's just because you've seen your body at a stage where typically a normal person would not see it at because there's no reason to get there. So that's why that body dysmorphia and comparison aspect comes in and just the mental battle with that. But look when you're in prep, obviously there's a saying of The worse you feel, the better you look at a certain point. And I think things like that do play a role in the mental aspect of it because when you're not in a prep setting and not doing all this extreme things, then it's like, Okay, what am I truly doing here? And then obviously it's like a whole, a whole deep dive. yeah.
Arabella: Yeah. And then obviously post show your hunger hormones are all out of whack and food can be extremely hard to navigate and I know it is pretty common to I wouldn't say develop an eating disorder. I wouldn't call it necessarily eating eating disorder, but it is common to struggle with overeating and viewing food differently because you have restricted yourself from those certain foods for like a long period of time and prep and then all of a sudden you feel like you have more freedom when it comes to food because you don't have that end goal and it's a lot harder to stay on plan. And it can cause overeating and it can definitely affect the way that you view food. ever since I started bodybuilding of course I view food differently. Now we view food as a whether it's a protein, carbor, fat or mix of both, not just food is food. and there's a blessing and a curse to that. Obviously it's it's extremely powerful to have a better understanding of food and how it feels your body rather than it just being food, but at the same time it's like, you know, I can't look at a milkshake the same anymore.
Rutha Berhane: no. God forbid. Not for that's a really
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: good example though, especially a milkshake at all things. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Arabella: It is a good right? Right? 'Cause it's like before I would drink a milkshake, nothing twice about it. Now you look at a milkshake and you know that it's probably almost a thousand calories, just straight ice cream and milk, very high fat and trace protein from the milk.
Rutha Berhane: Sorry, I got like goosebumps a little bit. I don't know, that was really intense. No, I'm lactose, so I literally would not get out of bed for like two days. But then I would love that, yes, hundred percent.
Arabella: But we love a milkshake. We we do love a milkshake. Okay, but if you weren't if you weren't lucky. Yeah, like you you still love Dairy Queen? Blizzards?
Rutha Berhane: I don't know why you're exposing me, okay. My coach might be listening. Sh only sometimes. Yeah.
Arabella: If Braeden's listening, I will be very surprised. so yeah, the post-show mental battle is real for sure,
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: going from extremely lean to gaining weight, but that's also why following your reverse diet is so important. One of the reasons, you know, insulin sensitivity and health and digestion Optimization aside, like it's it's important to reverse properly so that you know your body steadily gains weight rather than going from zero to a hundred overnight. Some people do prefer a recovery diet, and all the power to them I know works amazing for them. Some in a lot a lot of cases. For me personally, I like to do the slow and steady route, but you know, that's it's important to chat with your coach and see what's gonna work best for you in terms of that. But yeah, learn to accept that like. Your prep body is not your normal body. accept your body in all stages and phases, our bodies are very resilient and go through a lot to get us to this age. So be okay with that body fat game post show. you need it.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. And then we have identity, which is a really big one for us because when we do become all consumed with body building in ourselves, because it is a selfish sport, we might tend to lose ourselves within the process, which is honestly normal canon event for everybody, which is totally fine. But figuring out who you are when you're not competing is a very tough thing for some people. you're kind of coming off from this high from when your life kind of revolved around bodybuilding for twenty plus weeks, it is kind of hard to detach from that portion and can cause
Arabella: Totally.
Rutha Berhane: bodybuilding to become your identity, which is the last thing that you want, because you can be a great bodybuilder, but if that's all you are, then it's gonna start becoming a very isolating life for you because other peop not everybody around you is a bodybuilder. So you have to remember that it might cause you to kind of not create the friendships that you could have because of your mindset and where you're at in your life.
Arabella: Well, other people aside, you are not just a bodybuilder. You have so much more to offer outside of bodybuilding. The world and your life has so much more to offer outside of bodybuilding. And so yeah, do not let bodybuilding all consume you. because even subconsciously when it when you do let that happen, you are holding yourself back from other amazing things in life. And I'm speaking from experience with this, like I've talked about this a lot on our podcast already, but I really did become all consumed with bodybuilding and I wasn't just holding myself back from other people like Rutha I just mentioned, but I was holding myself back internally. and I was letting Bella become Bella the bodybuilder, which I'm not. There's so much more to me than just bodybuilding. And that's why it's so important also to enjoy other seasons of your life and not just become all consumed with bodybuilding.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly.
Arabella: There is so much more to life than just body body.
Rutha Berhane: Which yeah. Which gets you to also the portion where a lot of people tend to suffer in that we do see every single day. And it's just it tends to start getting very unhealthy in the long run. But separating your self-worth and appearance from competition results and you know, your placing is determining how you feel about yourself. Not your mood, but how you both are bad, but how you feel about yourself. And if you attach let's say me to either first, second, third, fifth. What is going to happen in the long run if you place poorly? Because you know, the bodybuilding is one of the sports where it's unknown. You don't know who's gonna show up, what's gonna happen day of. Your hard work at the end of the day is not compared to other people on that stage. It's what happens that day. So if your whole self worth depends on placing, that is gonna put you in a position where you're gonna hate yourself for a long time, right? And you can love your body. and still want to improve it. So improving also doesn't come from self-hatred, right? So there's this kind of analogy that goes around where people will say, you know, like they will hate themselves into getting better. And that doesn't work. And I hate that whole concept of like shit talking yourself to do better. You know what I'm talking about?
Arabella: You should never start bodybuild one thing I will say on that note is you should never start bodybuilding because you are chasing a stage lean body. You
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: should never do it for that reason because then you're gonna get to that point and you're gonna hate yourself afterwards. And yeah, you should never be chasing a stage lean body. You should be bodybuilding because you genuinely love the sport and wanna push yourself and challenge yourself. Which brings us to what is bodybuilding given us? Like it's so many things like discipline, confidence, delayed gratification, like Rutha just mentioned, like handling maybe a disappointing result on stage, but still being proud of the blood, sweat, and tears that you poured into your prep. And at the end of the day, bodybuilding is a totally you versus you sport. Yes, you're being compared
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: against other people on that stage, but you have won the second you even step on that stage, assuming that you've Everything and more into your prep and checked all of your boxes, and that's the most important thing. Like, I didn't walk away with any crazy results last year. Well, I won my class at all of my regional shows. Didn't walk away with a single overall though last year. And could I have let that got get to me? Yes. But I also knew that I gave it my all, and it really is truly dependent on who shows up that day. And as long as you give it your all, then that's a win.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. And the question that
Arabella: So yeah, don't tie yourself to that result.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, the question that is really big that will, you know, kind of answer the question of is bodybuilding actually worth it and worth the sacrifice is would you be the person you are today without bodybuilding?
Arabella: And that's what I mentioned at the start of this episode. No, like bodybuilding changed the entire trajectory of my life. And I am eternally grateful for that. And I am so grateful I found a sport that brings me so much passion and joy and that pushes me to be better. And it's introduced me to an amazing community. You know, so many of my closest friends now I've met through bodybuilding. Rutha and I would not be on this podcast if it weren't for bodybuilding.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: So No, absolutely not. I would not be
Rutha Berhane: No fine. Yeah.
Arabella: the same person if it wasn't for bodybuilding.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. And same goes here. You know, it it it teaches you a lot of things that carry out through your life and not just the working out aspect and getting on stage and looking good. It it teaches you a lot along the way. And it's just at the end of the day, would we do it again? Me personally, the money, the food, the coach, the everything, the possibility of disappointment, the losing, the winning, I would do it all over again with take my money.
Arabella: and do it all over again next year. So
Rutha Berhane: Take my money. I'm I'm going again. Yeah.
Arabella: We are still doing it. Like this we never hit the pause button. Like we just took a step back from the stage this year, but that is so that we are able to bring our best to the stage next year. Delayed gratification. In real
Rutha Berhane: And it flew by. It by.
Arabella: life. my God, I know. I know. Like give me more time to grow. Yeah, yeah. But
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, a little bit please guys. Just slow down. Slow down. Yeah. But yeah.
Arabella: yeah, okay, I love that episode. That was real deep and
Rutha Berhane: Real deep.
Arabella: And I think it yeah, it's important to have that conversation because yeah, bodybuilding is totally glamorized from the outside. and yeah, we've personally sacrificed a lot. I know a lot of a lot of bodybuilders do. There's so much that goes into it behind the scenes. and the sacrifices are real, but so are the rewards.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, exactly. You reap what you sow. That's from the Lorax. Sorry, I just wanted to share that. Yeah.
Arabella: 100 percent Love that saying. But yeah, comment your experiences
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: with bodybuilding. would love to hear more. I love connecting with other bodybuilding girlies. If you are on the hunt for a prep coach, I am taking on more prep clients. So if you want to work together, shoot me a message. And
Rutha Berhane: Me,
Arabella: yeah, hopefully you got a lot of value from this episode and we'll chat to you next week.
Rutha Berhane: Have a beautiful week.
Arabella: Bye.
Arabella: Hello everybody. Welcome back
Rutha Berhane: Welcome back.
Arabella: to the Consistency Code Podcast. If you're not watching the video right now, as we are waiting for the countdown to start on this recording, Rutha goes smile. So we're both sitting there smiling and she's like, We look like serial killers. It's
Rutha Berhane: No, the smile was kinda crazy, I can't lie. Just we were just so excited, that's why.
Arabella: It was kind of crazy I totally highlight of my week is yapping on here for an hour. So fun,
Rutha Berhane: Exactly.
Arabella: so fun. But anywho, on that note, what are we gonna be yapping about today? Do you wanna introduce it?
Rutha Berhane: Yes, so this is episode 34. we are gonna be doing a topic about if bodybuilding is actually worth it and if we would do it all over again, knowing what we know now and the process and everything, would we come back and say, let me let me start again? Yeah.
Arabella: Mm-hmm. this is gonna be a really interesting topic 'cause I always think it's hilarious when people are like, my god, I don't know how you do that. Like
Rutha Berhane: You know what?
Arabella: that is so extreme. Like I love food way too much. Like
Rutha Berhane: That one. Yeah, I love food. I can't do it.
Arabella: I my god, I could not imagine like eating the same thing every day. Like how
Rutha Berhane: Every single day. Yeah.
Arabella: do you do it? Like my god, you go to the gym twice a day, like, for cardio and to lift, like
Rutha Berhane: And it's with that exact same tone too. I could
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: never
Arabella: I can't even get ten thousand steps a day. Like what do you mean you you track your water? You weigh out your w wait your water and your salt.
Rutha Berhane: That's too much work. That I can't do that. I can't do that.
Arabella: That's cra yeah. That's crazy. That's crazy.
Rutha Berhane: And it's like I I
Arabella: Wait wait, you weigh out every single gram of food. So like that is so disordered.
Rutha Berhane: That's disordered. That's just so disordered. No, couldn't do that. I'm more of just like, you know, intuitive eating and just trying to portion out my meals.
Arabella: I just eat what makes me feel good.
Rutha Berhane: that was a good one. What makes me feel good? You know what? A a five pound tub of chocolate would make my heart really happy right now.
Arabella: You know what makes me feel good is the two blizzards I ate last n
Rutha Berhane: That that's that shit that makes feel good. Okay. The next day, not so much, but it makes me feel good for the second for sure. should we actually say? Yesterday Bella sent me a picture and she said, you know, like she got a two for one coupon. So she's at D DQ and little did I know, she was there. I was there. So I sent her a
Arabella: Hilarious
Rutha Berhane: Picture back.
Arabella: guys, like Rutha and I's brains have to be intertwined at this point because
Rutha Berhane: It's they're connected.
Arabella: yeah, I I got this two for one coupon in my mailbox, so obviously I was gonna go redeem it. And I got two two mini
Rutha Berhane: Utilize a
Arabella: blizzards. To be fair, they were minis. I could have gotten too
Rutha Berhane: Me too.
Arabella: could have gotten too large, which would have been more bang for my buck, but we're keeping it tame, okay? And I send Rutha
Rutha Berhane: We can speak you.
Arabella: the picture because you know we both appreciate a good sweet treat. And she literally sends me a picture in the Dairy Queen drive-thru at the same Like, what are the odds we
Rutha Berhane: my gosh, me too, girl.
Arabella: did not plan that? So funny, so funny. Yes. Mm-hmm.
Rutha Berhane: Mm mm. We're just we're just so locked like that that it's just it this happens all the time. All the time. And if I get a sweet treat that day, she has to go get one. I she has to go get one. Yeah. And I'll
Arabella: And vice versa. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: always say yes. I'll always I can never turn it down. Mm mm.
Arabella: If we lived together we would be obese.
Rutha Berhane: That would actually like that would that would not be that would not be cute, I don't think. But yeah.
Arabella: We're a bad influence, but no. Jokes aside, it's important to enjoy the the little things in the off season. We aren't robots
Rutha Berhane: Exactly, exactly.
Arabella: at the end of the day. We are human. But yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: Yeah, we're getting a little bit sidetracked. ADHD brain.
Rutha Berhane: Sorry, happens all the time. But yeah. yeah, we're gonna be, you know, mm starting off with the sacrifices that we've made for the physiques that we actually have today, whether it be the offseason or not, we still worked and sacrificed certain things to be where we are. and is it actually everything worth everything that we give up for it? You know what I mean? people see the stage photos, the final look, the glam, the lean physique, the abs, the veins. but nobody really cares for what went into it to get there, right? We see people
Arabella: think a lot of people, yeah, are like on I don't use this word lightly but l or frequently but like ignorant to the behind the scenes of bodybuilding.
Rutha Berhane: Yes. Yes. A hundred percent.
Arabella: especially that's something I've especially learned since like growing my platform on Instagram is people genuinely believe I woke up like this. And
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: okay, woke up like the way I look right now, but even worse, like in prep. When I was like
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: literally dick skin shredded. People think I just walk around
Rutha Berhane: That's right.
Arabella: like that, woke up like that year round, you know? Like
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: they assume I've never been overweight a day in my life, like never had any body fat on me. I just am like that. No.
Rutha Berhane: Like you don't know the struggle, like you don't know it 'cause you woke up like that.
Arabella: No. And they think that that's like normal and they think that that's something that I maintain year round and like
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: It's always crazy when people are like, I wanna look like you I'm like, Babe, you're never gonna look like me but yes, we we can do things to improve your physique, but you're not gonna
Rutha Berhane: And I don't think you want to because this is a stage where I don't think you want to get to for fun, please. Yeah.
Arabella: Mhm. Yeah, they don't they don't know about the the sixty ninety minute cardio sessions, the sub thousand calories, the next to no carbs.
Rutha Berhane: carbless meals, yeah, and like just the early mornings, the meal prep, the cardio,
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: the, you know, social events that you you have to say no to at a certain point, the money spent on this, the posing, just everything. Like it's j it's not just dieting, which people just think like, okay, you're just dieting and that's it. But there's so much more that goes into it. And like Bella said, like the ignorant part of what goes into that people don't really choose to look at. You know.
Arabella: Exactly, exactly. Yeah, there's so much that goes into it that people are not aware of. But yeah, we're we're gonna unpack all of that. but let's start off with chatting about how we got into bodybuilding and why did we start bodybuilding. I know we've talked about this on early episodes of this podcast, I would say,
Rutha Berhane: Yes.
Arabella: but it's been a while since we talked about our stories and yeah, why did we
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: start bodybuilding? What initially attracted you to bodybuild.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, like we previously like stated in the past, it was for me, I was just looking for, you know, the next step in my fitness journey personally, because I was at this point already in the gym and so on. And then I remember literally the first day that I saw a female bodybuilder on Instagram and my eyes were just drawn right away. Like right away it was this is what I wanted. do. Like it was just in my head and that's it. But then that's when I had to ask around and be like, What is this though? And what goes into it and stuff like that. So when I did that, I came from already a background of, you know, like binge eating. I came from, you know, like I I don't wanna say like over overweight, but I I had a substantial amount of body fat on me that You don't want to just like keep around, you know what I mean? Because it wasn't benefiting my health. It wasn't like damaging it, but it just wasn't beneficial. So then I started and I fell in love with it and here we are.
Arabella: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Similar for me. I grew up playing a lot of sports. I was competitive, very competitive in rowing during high school, which is a very mentally demanding sport in and of itself, physically and mentally demanding, but there is a huge mental piece to it too. And then long story short, I went to university. I cold turkeyed all sports. Like I was barely even going to the gym. My eating habits started to go down the drain because at the time there is like very limited healthy options on campus for food and I lived on campus first year and I started to gain weight and I started to like really lose sense of who I was. I hated how I looked in the mirror. My clothes weren't fitting right anymore. I hated every single picture that was taken of me. And that had never been an issue for me before because genetically I'm very, very lucky that I'm not predisposed to excess body fat. you know, I'd always been lean. I literally was like a lightweight rower in high school. I even was a coxie for the rowing team as well at one point, which coxies like they're they're very, very small people because you have to be very small and like fit in this tiny little section of the rowboat. And you want your coxswain to be as light as possible so you're not like The rowers aren't pulling excess weight, but anyway, sidetrack. I really started to mourn being competitive in a sport and pushing myself. And so I was like, hey, I'm gonna start going to the gym again, give me something to focus on, you know, hopefully like lose a little bit of this body fat that I had gained. And when I started in the gym, there's a couple guys in my gym who were bodybuilders, so I was like kinda watching their prep and I even had some people come up to me and be like, Are you bodybuilding? Like have you thought about bodybuilding? And honestly I was like, What are you talking about? Like what even really is that? like I I knew about like male bodybuilding, but like wasn't really super familiar with the women's divisions. And I had a bunch of people telling me I should compete and I was like, you know what? Fuck it, let's do it. I wanna push myself mentally again. I wanna be competitive in something again. I also felt myself losing my passion for the gym, which like I had always loved strength training and going to the gym and I'm a very goal driven person, so I needed a goal to work towards again, other than just like pushing for a bench PR. So
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, I'm
Arabella: I was like, you know what? Yeah, let's do it. Hired my coach literally six months later, stepped on stage. And should I have stepped on stage? Like, I wish I'd given myself a little more time to grow, but it was a great experience. Yeah, yeah. And it was exactly what
Rutha Berhane: But it was your first show. Yeah, first show.
Arabella: I needed at that point in time. It gave me direction in my life again when it was lacking direction. And you know, it improved my my self confidence, and it really like dictated a new path and direction for my life. Like had I not gone down that path, I probably wouldn't be where I am today, you know, running my own coaching business and competitively bodybuilding and yeah, my the whole trajectory of my life could be different, which is crazy to even think about.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: And I do remember at the time as well when I started prep, like my friends at the time, like none of them were bodybuilders and I'm still friends with them to this day, but like they were all like, Wow, like I could never do what you're doing. Like you have so much discipline and like I remember, you know, like going out for like dinner and drinks and stuff with them, but like either eating beforehand or like bringing my scale with me if I needed to, bringing my meal prep with me, like, you know doing two cardio sessions a day, like doing everything I needed to do and they were just kind of like in awe of it. and it is, yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. It's different, right? And usually like you're usually when you start it and there's nobody else around you that like from your circle or like whatever did it, you're kind of opening that world up to them. So everybody's just learning together. So that's like a pretty cool part too.
Arabella: Totally, totally. And especially watching me like transition from partying
Rutha Berhane: yeah.
Arabella: all the time to like going in the complete opposite direction. I'm like, guys, I can't drink no more alcohol.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. No more alcohol, which is I think that's the biggest shock that I still even can't get used to properly. Like sometimes I'm like, but yeah. No, that's true. But knowing
Arabella: Yeah, yeah. and
Rutha Berhane: sorry.
Arabella: I was just gonna say did it did require a lot of sacrifice. and
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: it does, but like I don't even really look at it as sacrifice because it's something that I genuinely enjoy doing. You know, sure, like some people would say giving up alcohol is a sacrifice, but like to me, I'm like, honestly, like to give up alcohol to do something that makes me feel good brings me so much joy, and something I'm so passionate about is not a sacrifice. Like, alcohol is always gonna be
Rutha Berhane: Okay.
Arabella: there. I can have it like whenever I want it, but to give it up for a short duration, relatively short duration of time is like not that big of a deal.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. And when you're in prep, you don't usually notice that you're not drinking, honestly, because there's so much going on that that's like the last thing on your head. I think. Yeah.
Arabella: No. Literally. It's the last thing you think about, yeah.
Rutha Berhane: You're you're thinking about probably like, I'm exhausted or I'm hungry. Not let me. I miss the vodka that I used to drink. Like that's the last thing, right? But that brings us to our portion of what we actually sacrificed. A more in detail. explanation of what kind of truly goes into it because yes, we we've always talked about it kind of lightly here and there, but kind of opening up the whole like opening up Pandora's box, right? for those who are wondering. And I'm gonna start off strong first with social life being a really big thing. And I think this is the one that kind of shocks people because all of us are usually social butterflies, especially with our friends and we tend to hang out with our friends and do this and that. But When you're at a certain point in prep, you kind of have to put a pause on a lot of things because a certain amount of weeks out you are genuinely drained and you only have so much energy and you already have things to do that need to get your day done, right? So it gets to a point where you're missing dinners, parties, birthdays, events, vacations is a really big thing. people don't know this, but at a certain point, traveling. becomes a big no-no just because depending on where you're going, bringing food. If there's no food there that you if you're going all all inclusive and you can't really go and shop for food, or training and cardio, that gets pretty tight for you. So that's something that people do hone down on after a certain point in in prep or where they're going to, or like spontaneous plans and just having to plan your day around things like your Meals, training, cardio s steps and if you have to go to work or school.
Arabella: Yeah, and like I will say that in prep, like you don't have to give up your social life entirely. It just more so is a pivot from planning social activities around food. instead
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: of doing that, plan social activities around literally anything else, and there is a lot you can do socially that does not revolve around food and I honestly think it's like kind of a a flaw in our society these days where like everything is so food focused when we should be socializing, to make memories and to enjoy the company and quality time of the people that we're with rather than making it so focused on the food. Like, why do we always have to like go out for dinner or go for drinks or like go try this new place or whatever. Like, yes, I know it's fun and like I'm a huge foodie, so I totally get it. But at the same time, like
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: we often forget that there's so many other things that we can do that are not food focused, especially in the summertime. I know it's a little bit harder in the wintertime in Canada. Like our options are limited. We don't want to go outside and like go for a hike or go for a walk
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: or whatever. But Yeah, there's there's tons of options and you just have to get creative with it. so yeah, you don't need to cut out your social life entirely, but you do I guess make a sacrifice when it comes to food and drinks. And then yeah, like Rutha has said, once you get to a certain point in prep, you just are so tapped out, you really have no extra energy to expend on socializing, which is like sad in a sense, but that's usually just the very tail end of prep.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: And that's also when rest and recovery becomes of utmost importance too. Like, you know, you need to prioritize and get as much sleep and rest as you can. And like when you're already doing X amount of steps, X amount of cardio every day, sometimes you just really don't have it in you to go get ready and go out and expend more energy. It's like even walking to the fridge to get your meal seems like a lot of work. So yeah. Yeah. But
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: It does require sacrifice, yeah, in the sense that ev your your world basically, your day revolves around bodybuilding. Cause you have so many boxes to tick, but I think that's a reason why we do what we do in bodybuilders, bodybuild is cause we love the rigidity, we love the discipline, we love the structure that it brings to us. So yeah, there's there's
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, thirteen, yeah.
Arabella: pros and cons to both and it really does come down to perspective as well. I will say you can look at it as as a sacrifice or you can look at it as as a blessing and at the end of the day nobody's forcing you to do this. So people are like, my god, I have to go do my cardio. I I can't like I wish I could come out but I can't like maybe flip your perspective. You know, you signed up for this and it's temporary and we you
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. Exactly.
Arabella: know, we wanna be doing this. So yeah, to me it's not a sacrifice, but that's just
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Arabella: my own. My own take.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. And it's I think it's just people missing that spontaneous aspect of their life doing those twenty plus weeks that people just can't really let go
Arabella: Mm-hmm. Yeah. For sure.
Rutha Berhane: of because you can't get up on a whim and say, Today I'm gonna do this. No, it's hey, first I need to go do my cardio and this and that. So Now, unfortunately, which is good.
Arabella: Literally. No spontaneous Dairy Queen runs. But hey, that's why we take extended off seasons so we can enjoy our life outside of bodybuilding.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, but do you wanna tell us about like since you brought up Dairy Queen, like the food freedom aspect of it too, which is a really big one?
Arabella: It is a really big one. and one thing I've learned is that like I think the longer duration of time I go without eating high dopamine foods like sweet treats, stuff with more sugar in it, the less I crave it.
Rutha Berhane: Two feet. True. Yeah.
Arabella: And I think that goes, yeah, for everyone because sugar sugar is a a dopamine. hit, right? So the more you eat it, the more you're gonna crave it. And the longer you
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Arabella: go without it, the less you're gonna crave it. And in prep you you really become so locked into your routine and eating the same meals every day, that there comes a point where you don't even really think about food. I mean, it's different for everyone. I know some people really do struggle with cravings, but I'm not entirely all that food focused in prep and honestly if I This the day I start watching food review videos is like when it all goes downhill for me. It's like once you go down that rabbit hole, you cannot get rid of it, and it's like all you think about for the rest of your prep.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: also, yeah, it's it's such a temporary thing. It's like your season is like twenty three thirty weeks tops depending on how many shows you're doing and how spaced out they are. And if you take an extended off season after that, or not even extended, just an off season, then you do get a lot more free food freedom and flexibility into your diet. At least I think you should. Like I'm a big, big promoter of tracking your macros in your off season, just so that you do have the room to incorporate different foods.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: include nutrient variety and have the flexibility to go out for a free meal and go for a treat if you want it. Like obviously in moderation, like don't be eating like an asshole, but you also in the off season don't need to obviously be as disciplined as you are in prep. So
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, that's a good one.
Arabella: Yeah, that's thinking.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. and then there's also the portion of sleep and recovery where people are not gonna be really understanding when we say being in prep or just bodybuilding as a whole, you feel this kind of this certain level of exhaustion that it's not really. Best shown by explaining it. You just have to experience it, I think. because you at a certain point, you have to wake up super early for your cardio if you have cardio twice a day post-workout and fasted or whatever. And just the training around work and school, needing enough sleep to recover, but then at a certain point in prep a few weeks out, you can't really get that proper sleep because your body is in such a sensitive spot that sleep is hindered quite a bit. So The exhaustion that you feel throughout your day-to-day is going to affect you not just physically but sometimes mentally too. You know what I mean? This is where people feel really drained and then the emotions are just everywhere. So there's a level of tiredness that you are expected to handle. And that's where the conversation of bodybuilding is a choice at the end of the day comes in. Because yes, you're gonna be exhausted, you're gonna be tired, sometimes you might hate what you're doing, but Remembering why you started it and why you're in this is the biggest help for us. Like every day at
Arabella: Mm-hmm.
Rutha Berhane: what at like two, three weeks out, I was done. I was exhausted. I was ready for it to be over, but not in the sense of I regret doing this, but in the sense of okay, I'm ready to see like the final result I've put my time in. I'm so tired, but I loved what I was doing, even if some days I was crying to sleep. trying myself to sleep. And I have
Arabella: Yeah. Yeah. And
Rutha Berhane: a few times, I have.
Arabella: Yeah, you did have a very extreme prep too, you had to really, really push to get lean enough.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: but that's when it is so important to be s crystal clear on your why. Why am I doing this? Why did I sign up for this and remind yourself of that why and remind yourself of how good it's gonna feel when you do get to the endpoint, when you step on that stage. And I think stepping on that stage feels so much more rewarding when, you know, you
Rutha Berhane: percent.
Arabella: you push through the nitty-gritty of it. The the days where you genuinely just wanted to cry all day and quit and give up. But that is part of the sport is pushing yourself. Like nobody is meant to be walking around with like veins on their stomach and veins on their legs, you know? Like you have to push to the extreme in order to achieve an extreme look like that. And
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, like if if you want better, y sometimes you just have to push harder. And that's just yeah. And your why will always w win.
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Once you understand your why, that will always be at the forefront, helping you the whole time.
Arabella: Yes, yes. And for lifestyle clients, if you're listening to this, more does not always mean more. This is yeah. This is bodybuilding specific. please
Rutha Berhane: Yes, that's time and place. Time and place.
Arabella: do not go slashing your calories because your calories are probably already low enough and that's why you're stuck.
Rutha Berhane: No, yeah.
Arabella: but I digress.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: Yeah, like bodybuilder or not, you need to be you need to understand why you're doing it. And if you're not clear on that why, I think that's when people feel like, I'm just lacking motivation and like I don't feel like doing it. It's because you're not clear on your why. Are you doing this for you? Are you doing this for your kids? Are you doing this to improve your confidence? Are you doing this to fit better in your clothes? Are you doing this for a certain event that's coming up, like a wedding?
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: Like, are you doing this to push yourself mentally and prove to yourself that you're capable of hard things? Get clear on your why and then showing up and checking your boxes every day will feel so much better and so much easier.
Rutha Berhane: Very true.
Arabella: Now moving on to our next segment, friendships and social life. I know a lot of people struggle with this and say that they've lost friends when they started bodybuilding or that some people in their life just like don't understand why they're doing it and they think we're crazy for doing it and I I totally get it. When I first started bodybuilding my parents were like, what do you mean? Yeah. Like, what do
Rutha Berhane: We want the ass. Yeah.
Arabella: you mean you're tracking all of your food? What do you mean you're getting on a stage in a bikini and heels? Like Yes, that part.
Rutha Berhane: And turning around. And turning around. Yeah.
Arabella: Yeah. but ultimately if there are people in your life, this goes for bodybuilding and lifestyle, who are judging you for anything that you do fitness related, whether that be you know, spending an hour, hour and a half in the gym every day, whether that be saying no to social things that involve food or Bringing your food scale on like the camping trip or the girls' weekend or whatever. If they are judging you for that and don't want to associate themselves with you because of that, then like truly are they worth your energy and friendship? Because no matter what, your friend should
Rutha Berhane: They have to go.
Arabella: be supportive of your endeavors and your passions and what you want to do, and ultimately it's your life you're trying to better yourself. And normally when people are judgmental of that, it's a reflection of their own insecurities.
Rutha Berhane: Yes. And on this, like I think there's also a portion where people think that, okay, my friendships should should not change at all once once I started doing this. And that's not necessarily true. Your friendships will change and they should, but not for the reason that people think in a negative light, but in the sense of your friends you know, hopping on board that you're doing something new and exciting and something that you like and and love, hopefully, and just kind of approaching the friendship in a different light in the sense of you have to do certain things and you know your mindset is gonna be in different areas at certain stages of the year or in the next coming years or months. So your friendship should change, but not in a negative way, but in a more positive way. And it should actually better the friendship anyways. So when I hear like people talking about genuinely like, you know, when I do this, my friends make fun of me or You know, like they won't support me or this and that. Hm. They gotta go. I'm so good for cutting people off if that's the case, 'cause that's not gonna benefit you in any sense. In any sense.
Arabella: No, if they're dragging you down, then hell cut 'em out because yeah, like I said, they should be supportive of everything you're doing and they don't necessarily have to fully understand what you're doing and why you're doing, but they should still be supportive of it. And
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.
Arabella: that's that's the key. And I am still really close with some of my friends that I've known since I started since before I started bodybuilding and they are some of my biggest supporters when it comes to bodybuilding and
Rutha Berhane: yeah.
Arabella: I am so grateful for it. Like they've been my cheerleader's number one fans since day one. And even though they're not bodybuilders themselves, like it means the world to me having people who have just been like my rock through
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: it all. So yeah. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Okay. It's a really big portion. And same thing goes for partners in relationships which we've talked about previously. But, you know, if to treat the partner the same as the friends in the sense of they should be equally as supportive, if not more, because they're with you like 24-7. Like if you live with them, what whatever the case might be, if the person that you're choosing to date is not being supportive of you or just kind of dragging you down. And I've heard some people genuinely have partners horrific. Okay, who have told them like, you know, this is not a good look, like you should not be doing this, or I like I just they just won't show up for them the way that they need and the way that a partner should. And it's just that in the long run, if you want to do something and even if it might not be important to them at all, it does not matter. There's no if but or. They need to care for it because you care for it. Simple.
Arabella: A hundred percent and like I said, they may not fully understand, like it's very hard to fully understand how somebody feels in a prep unless you've gone through a prep yourself, but they still can be supportive. And on the flip of that, bodybuilding is a very selfish sport and there's no arguing that it is selfish because at the end of the day in prep, like it's you versus you, you know, you're doing everything you can to bring your best. And that does mean that you're not able to show up a hundred percent for others in your life. But that's also why it's important to have balance in your life between prep and off season. And in the off season when you're not in prep, that is your time to give back to your partner for their support during your prep. And so it is it does work out evenly in the end. so yeah, if if you know somebody, whether it be partner or just friend or family or whatever is is questioning and bringing you down and making you feel guilty, then that conversation needs to happen. But you should also be very transparent
Rutha Berhane: They gotta go.
Arabella: and upfront before you start prep about
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: what it's gonna look like, what it's gonna entail and the sacrifices that you're gonna have to make just so that everybody is like on the same page with it and nothing is unexpected. But yeah, like It's no lie that like in prep your libido's gonna come down, like you're obviously not gonna be able to go for like dinner dates. So yeah, there are sacrifices that you have to make, but it's also important too, like we talked about as well, like go on dates that don't involve food. There's so many things you can do, so many memories you can still make. Like you can even go to the movies and like go to a movie theater that has like one of those diet coke machines with like the million different flavors.
Rutha Berhane: A lot of those.
Arabella: Diet pop. Yeah, so good, so good. But yeah. Moving on from that onto the money financial side of things when it comes to bodybuilding. This is probably one of the heftiest between coaching, your gym membership, eating hella protein, it's not a cheap diet. supplements.
Rutha Berhane: No, no, no, no.
Arabella: you know, just like your daily supplements and then also if you're an enhanced athletes, PEDs, not cheap, posing coach, your CPA or NPC fee, your show registrations, oftentimes multiple classes and one show, tan, make up, I do my own hair, but hair if you're getting your hair done, travel expenses, accommodations, gas or plane tickets, bodywork. There's so much that goes into it. And like a lot of those I would write off only in the sense that like I'd be paying for them regardless of whether I'm prepping or not, such as like bodywork, gym membership. Coaching is like a year round thing, non negotiable. But all of the show day expenses and travel expenses, they they really do add up quickly.
Rutha Berhane: Does eat you
Arabella: And so that's something to be mindful of before you
Rutha Berhane: yeah
Arabella: commit to a prep too is are you financially in a good spot to handle the prep?
Rutha Berhane: Okay.
Arabella: Because the last thing that you need or want in prep is financial stress. Like you should have all of that money. And I would say like minimum five thousand dollars set aside before you start prep. And that may seem like a lot. And am I saying that every prep is gonna cost you five thousand dollars? No, but like it does add up really, really quickly and You wanna make sure it will get there, yeah. And you wanna make sure that you have that set aside so you're not stressing yourself
Rutha Berhane: And it will get it will get there easily. Easy.
Arabella: out, especially because you're likely gonna have to dial back work a little bit at the end of prep.
Rutha Berhane: The end. Yeah. And people do underestimate how much bodybuilding actually consists of financial commitment. regardless of, you know, you you you can cut corners with certain things like hair or makeup and you can do your own tan, but the big things you can't cut corners on like a cheap coach. If you get a cheap coach and they don't know what they're doing, it's gonna be a cheap result. So you kind of pay what you get for else.
Arabella: Or a cheap suit, please for the love of God, do not cheap out on your
Rutha Berhane: Stop.
Arabella: suit. I have seen horrendous suits at shows and it will
Rutha Berhane: Really, really bad.
Arabella: ruin your entire package.
Rutha Berhane: I would rather you pay what you need to for the suit and do your own makeup at the end of the day because a horrendous suit is a horrendous suit. And also you don't have
Arabella: It's that gospel.
Rutha Berhane: to you don't have to go through the route of toxic angels, like where that's an arm and a leg, yes. But there are other places that for only a few hundred less, but that says something like during an expensive prep. But once you go the route of like nobody has used this company before, you can't even see reviews and you use it. It's gonna show. But
Arabella: Mm-hmm.
Rutha Berhane: yeah, I think people need to understand that bodybuilding is a pay-to-play sport, right? You're not really
Arabella: For sure, for sure.
Rutha Berhane: getting anything out of it that's financial unless you are a very high level pro and getting endorsements and sponsorships from brands and companies. Yeah, winning shows are not
Arabella: And winning shows and that kind of thing. Yeah. But even at that point, like bodybuilding is not gonna pay your life's bills the way other sports will. especially
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, no. That
Arabella: I fucking hate to say it, especially in the the women's side of bodybuilding. the
Rutha Berhane: No doubt.
Arabella: yeah, the the endorsements and the prize money on the women's side of things is not nearly even compared to the males
Rutha Berhane: As the man.
Arabella: and we could go into a whole topic on that. you know, people argue that the males deserve more because it's a lot more extreme for them, blah blah blah, whatever you wanna argue. But that that would really that would be a big digression from this. So we'll save that for another day.
Rutha Berhane: And also, yeah, yeah.
Arabella: But yeah, ultimately like it's gonna be a financial sacrifice. I also like to look at it this way. If you are not in prep, you are spending money, more money than you realize, on fun coffees Treats, going out to eat,
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: you know, going out for dinner, all of these probably more travel as well, if you're not in prep. So does it even out at the end of the day? No,
Rutha Berhane: Pick your poison.
Arabella: but you are saving money in that respect, so you can put that towards your prep, which helps. Like I definitely spend way more money eating out in my off season, obviously.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. And people think winning, even when you're a pro like winning a show is gonna be like, okay, like I made so much that I can actually take care of my bills with this one. People sometimes people genuinely ask, like, like how much do you want it your show? At my regional show? I brought you back a trophy or a medal. They actually made me pay to be there. So I think it's just like the research aspect of that is you're not really getting anything financially out of it. It's more of Like there's I think there's way more to it, but the financial aspect,
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: yeah, you're not getting shit. Sorry.
Arabella: So literally at the regional level, like, my God, you got an athlete bag with like a pack of gum, a T shirt that you're never gonna wear again.
Rutha Berhane: I've never gotten gum, that would be a good one.
Arabella: sometimes I get really random shit that I don't want. Like I literally still have a fruit roll up in my pantry from one of my athlete bags. I'm like, why? Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Fucking lollipop.
Arabella: In what world do I want this, bro? Like I got a pack of popcorn
Rutha Berhane: Like sometimes
Arabella: full butter popcorn one time, like
Rutha Berhane: That'll piss me off. But sometimes in the States they have way better like regional show prize like Wolfpack backpacks or like belts, like an overall belt. This here we get we get nothing. We get nothing.
Arabella: I know. If you win, yeah. Yeah. Some shows are a lot better than others, I will say it depends on the promoter. But even still,
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: like you're paying like hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to compete at that show and like you get a very minimal prize pack. So or not even prize pack, goodie bag. And then yeah, sometimes the prizes are better if you win your class, win the overall. But obviously
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: that's never guaranteed. But yeah, just be
Rutha Berhane: with
Arabella: prepared financially because
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: it w it will cost you an arm and a leg. But yeah, moving on to
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, what
Arabella: the mental side of things, which I th I would argue is like the biggest sacrifice when it comes to bodybuilding. Because once you see yourself at your leanest,
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, mm-hmm.
Arabella: you will look at yourself differently for a long time. afterwards because that is your new baseline. Like you see yourself stage lean and then all of a sudden twenty pounds up from that, which is like a healthy body weight, feels obese in comparison.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's bodybuilding fat and there is regular fat is what I like to truly talk about
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: because our brain will literally say, you are actually the largest person in this world today. But it's just because you've seen your body at a stage where typically a normal person would not see it at because there's no reason to get there. So that's why that body dysmorphia and comparison aspect comes in and just the mental battle with that. But look when you're in prep, obviously there's a saying of The worse you feel, the better you look at a certain point. And I think things like that do play a role in the mental aspect of it because when you're not in a prep setting and not doing all this extreme things, then it's like, Okay, what am I truly doing here? And then obviously it's like a whole, a whole deep dive. yeah.
Arabella: Yeah. And then obviously post show your hunger hormones are all out of whack and food can be extremely hard to navigate and I know it is pretty common to I wouldn't say develop an eating disorder. I wouldn't call it necessarily eating eating disorder, but it is common to struggle with overeating and viewing food differently because you have restricted yourself from those certain foods for like a long period of time and prep and then all of a sudden you feel like you have more freedom when it comes to food because you don't have that end goal and it's a lot harder to stay on plan. And it can cause overeating and it can definitely affect the way that you view food. ever since I started bodybuilding of course I view food differently. Now we view food as a whether it's a protein, carbor, fat or mix of both, not just food is food. and there's a blessing and a curse to that. Obviously it's it's extremely powerful to have a better understanding of food and how it feels your body rather than it just being food, but at the same time it's like, you know, I can't look at a milkshake the same anymore.
Rutha Berhane: no. God forbid. Not for that's a really
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: good example though, especially a milkshake at all things. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Arabella: It is a good right? Right? 'Cause it's like before I would drink a milkshake, nothing twice about it. Now you look at a milkshake and you know that it's probably almost a thousand calories, just straight ice cream and milk, very high fat and trace protein from the milk.
Rutha Berhane: Sorry, I got like goosebumps a little bit. I don't know, that was really intense. No, I'm lactose, so I literally would not get out of bed for like two days. But then I would love that, yes, hundred percent.
Arabella: But we love a milkshake. We we do love a milkshake. Okay, but if you weren't if you weren't lucky. Yeah, like you you still love Dairy Queen? Blizzards?
Rutha Berhane: I don't know why you're exposing me, okay. My coach might be listening. Sh only sometimes. Yeah.
Arabella: If Braeden's listening, I will be very surprised. so yeah, the post-show mental battle is real for sure,
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: going from extremely lean to gaining weight, but that's also why following your reverse diet is so important. One of the reasons, you know, insulin sensitivity and health and digestion Optimization aside, like it's it's important to reverse properly so that you know your body steadily gains weight rather than going from zero to a hundred overnight. Some people do prefer a recovery diet, and all the power to them I know works amazing for them. Some in a lot a lot of cases. For me personally, I like to do the slow and steady route, but you know, that's it's important to chat with your coach and see what's gonna work best for you in terms of that. But yeah, learn to accept that like. Your prep body is not your normal body. accept your body in all stages and phases, our bodies are very resilient and go through a lot to get us to this age. So be okay with that body fat game post show. you need it.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. And then we have identity, which is a really big one for us because when we do become all consumed with body building in ourselves, because it is a selfish sport, we might tend to lose ourselves within the process, which is honestly normal canon event for everybody, which is totally fine. But figuring out who you are when you're not competing is a very tough thing for some people. you're kind of coming off from this high from when your life kind of revolved around bodybuilding for twenty plus weeks, it is kind of hard to detach from that portion and can cause
Arabella: Totally.
Rutha Berhane: bodybuilding to become your identity, which is the last thing that you want, because you can be a great bodybuilder, but if that's all you are, then it's gonna start becoming a very isolating life for you because other peop not everybody around you is a bodybuilder. So you have to remember that it might cause you to kind of not create the friendships that you could have because of your mindset and where you're at in your life.
Arabella: Well, other people aside, you are not just a bodybuilder. You have so much more to offer outside of bodybuilding. The world and your life has so much more to offer outside of bodybuilding. And so yeah, do not let bodybuilding all consume you. because even subconsciously when it when you do let that happen, you are holding yourself back from other amazing things in life. And I'm speaking from experience with this, like I've talked about this a lot on our podcast already, but I really did become all consumed with bodybuilding and I wasn't just holding myself back from other people like Rutha I just mentioned, but I was holding myself back internally. and I was letting Bella become Bella the bodybuilder, which I'm not. There's so much more to me than just bodybuilding. And that's why it's so important also to enjoy other seasons of your life and not just become all consumed with bodybuilding.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly.
Arabella: There is so much more to life than just body body.
Rutha Berhane: Which yeah. Which gets you to also the portion where a lot of people tend to suffer in that we do see every single day. And it's just it tends to start getting very unhealthy in the long run. But separating your self-worth and appearance from competition results and you know, your placing is determining how you feel about yourself. Not your mood, but how you both are bad, but how you feel about yourself. And if you attach let's say me to either first, second, third, fifth. What is going to happen in the long run if you place poorly? Because you know, the bodybuilding is one of the sports where it's unknown. You don't know who's gonna show up, what's gonna happen day of. Your hard work at the end of the day is not compared to other people on that stage. It's what happens that day. So if your whole self worth depends on placing, that is gonna put you in a position where you're gonna hate yourself for a long time, right? And you can love your body. and still want to improve it. So improving also doesn't come from self-hatred, right? So there's this kind of analogy that goes around where people will say, you know, like they will hate themselves into getting better. And that doesn't work. And I hate that whole concept of like shit talking yourself to do better. You know what I'm talking about?
Arabella: You should never start bodybuild one thing I will say on that note is you should never start bodybuilding because you are chasing a stage lean body. You
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: should never do it for that reason because then you're gonna get to that point and you're gonna hate yourself afterwards. And yeah, you should never be chasing a stage lean body. You should be bodybuilding because you genuinely love the sport and wanna push yourself and challenge yourself. Which brings us to what is bodybuilding given us? Like it's so many things like discipline, confidence, delayed gratification, like Rutha just mentioned, like handling maybe a disappointing result on stage, but still being proud of the blood, sweat, and tears that you poured into your prep. And at the end of the day, bodybuilding is a totally you versus you sport. Yes, you're being compared
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: against other people on that stage, but you have won the second you even step on that stage, assuming that you've Everything and more into your prep and checked all of your boxes, and that's the most important thing. Like, I didn't walk away with any crazy results last year. Well, I won my class at all of my regional shows. Didn't walk away with a single overall though last year. And could I have let that got get to me? Yes. But I also knew that I gave it my all, and it really is truly dependent on who shows up that day. And as long as you give it your all, then that's a win.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. And the question that
Arabella: So yeah, don't tie yourself to that result.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, the question that is really big that will, you know, kind of answer the question of is bodybuilding actually worth it and worth the sacrifice is would you be the person you are today without bodybuilding?
Arabella: And that's what I mentioned at the start of this episode. No, like bodybuilding changed the entire trajectory of my life. And I am eternally grateful for that. And I am so grateful I found a sport that brings me so much passion and joy and that pushes me to be better. And it's introduced me to an amazing community. You know, so many of my closest friends now I've met through bodybuilding. Rutha and I would not be on this podcast if it weren't for bodybuilding.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: So No, absolutely not. I would not be
Rutha Berhane: No fine. Yeah.
Arabella: the same person if it wasn't for bodybuilding.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. And same goes here. You know, it it it teaches you a lot of things that carry out through your life and not just the working out aspect and getting on stage and looking good. It it teaches you a lot along the way. And it's just at the end of the day, would we do it again? Me personally, the money, the food, the coach, the everything, the possibility of disappointment, the losing, the winning, I would do it all over again with take my money.
Arabella: and do it all over again next year. So
Rutha Berhane: Take my money. I'm I'm going again. Yeah.
Arabella: We are still doing it. Like this we never hit the pause button. Like we just took a step back from the stage this year, but that is so that we are able to bring our best to the stage next year. Delayed gratification. In real
Rutha Berhane: And it flew by. It by.
Arabella: life. my God, I know. I know. Like give me more time to grow. Yeah, yeah. But
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, a little bit please guys. Just slow down. Slow down. Yeah. But yeah.
Arabella: yeah, okay, I love that episode. That was real deep and
Rutha Berhane: Real deep.
Arabella: And I think it yeah, it's important to have that conversation because yeah, bodybuilding is totally glamorized from the outside. and yeah, we've personally sacrificed a lot. I know a lot of a lot of bodybuilders do. There's so much that goes into it behind the scenes. and the sacrifices are real, but so are the rewards.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, exactly. You reap what you sow. That's from the Lorax. Sorry, I just wanted to share that. Yeah.
Arabella: 100 percent Love that saying. But yeah, comment your experiences
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: with bodybuilding. would love to hear more. I love connecting with other bodybuilding girlies. If you are on the hunt for a prep coach, I am taking on more prep clients. So if you want to work together, shoot me a message. And
Rutha Berhane: Me,
Arabella: yeah, hopefully you got a lot of value from this episode and we'll chat to you next week.
Rutha Berhane: Have a beautiful week.
Arabella: Bye.
