As I sit here, staring at the daunting blank screen in front
of me, my emotions are running the gamut and I’m overwhelmed with where to
start. A week or so ago, I posted the
statement below on my Facebook wall in support of a post by Dr. Norton in which
he wondered, as we all do, when will coaches get with the science and stop
hurting people. Here is my post:
Hum!!! Someone from whom I purchased diets in the past
was interviewed. This interview woke me up to what a total fraud I was
dealing with. Read the article at the link here then ask yourself -
orgasm - seriously - that's the best you've got. I realized I was dealing
with someone who had NO clue about the science of nutrition. I was
ashamed to be associated with him. Be careful who you listen to. Do
your research!!!
Let me also repeat one of the questions and his answer:
Q: What formula do you use to determine how many macro
nutrients to give each client?
A: I don’t
I ran like hell!!! This
person succeeded in helping me totally wreck my metabolism which Dr. Layne
Norton is now helping me repair.
In our phone conversation, Natalie also told me I was not being fair in that I was not telling the whole story. To that I agreed. So here I am, telling the whole story as I see it and to explain why I believe, in my opinion, Mike Davies is a fraud. It is certainly not my intent to hurt anyone. Natalie had asked me what I wanted. I responded that I just want the Fitness Factory to stop hurting people. Natalie explained that people come to Mike Davies to get on stage and he gets them there. She also indicated that he has had over 120 people turn pro – more than any other trainer. I’m not sure if I actually responded ‘at what cost’ or just thought it.
So, back to the beginning, to tell my whole story, in my
opinion and how I see it. I was
introduced to the sport of Bodybuilding by my eldest daughter who was preparing
for her first competition in the bikini division. I had been on a fat to - not so fat - cycle over the
past 5 or 6 years. I would gain weight,
sign up for a half-marathon or triathlon and lose weight. I was yo-yoing between 180 and 150 pounds
maxing out at around 200 pounds. I had
just turned 50, buried my father on my 50th birthday, and headed in
a very unhealthy direction yet again when my daughter suggested I get off my
treadmill and start weight training.
After I went to my daughter’s first bodybuilding show, I was
totally hooked. Her trainer was a former
Fitness Factory competitor. My daughter
suggested I go to the Fitness Factory web-site and see if there was a trainer
close by that had space. I was thrilled
to find Natalie and began working with her right away.
I was a mess from the start.
I had gone from around 200 lbs. to around 150 lbs. by the time I met
with Natalie. Food wise, I was not in a
good place. Body image - well let's just say that's something I still struggle with. I was terrified to gain the
weight back I had lost which made me afraid to eat. Oh, and cardio, OMG. I was used to training for half
marathons. I was the cardio queen. It was nothing for me to jump on the
treadmill and knock out 6 or 8 miles. I
would jump on the stair mill for 30 to 40 minutes – no problem. Letting go of crazy amounts of cardio was
hard. On the one hand, my body craved
it. On the other hand, somewhere in my
brain was the thought that if I stopped or cut back, I would gain a pound. I had never worked with weights. It was hard for me to get my head around
lifting and away from cardio.
As I continued to lose weight through crazy cardio and
weight training, I began getting diets from Mike Davies. He charged $30 for a diet that you would stay
on for one month. Each month you would
request a new diet that he would e-mail out.
I was never asked to send in my weight or measurements. The instructions said to send in a photo but
I was told he knew what I looked like and I didn’t have to send in photos. Body image issues still to this
day make photos a touch process for me. I followed his diets like a
religion. I wouldn’t dream of
cheating. I did make one mistake. I would buy packages of frozen fish. I counted the frozen weight. I only made this mistake for a few days
before I was corrected and began weighing my fish after it was cooked.
Things were going well, or so I thought. I was losing weight. I was down to 116 pounds and had decided to
do a show with my daughter. Just to put
things into perspective, here are some photos.
One is me at around 200 lbs. and at 116 lbs. a week before my show. These photos represent my extremes. They both represent extremely unhealthy versions of me - just on opposite ends of the spectrum.
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A bodybuilding show. How cool it is, as a mom, sharing something like this with your
daughter. We were both in
prep mode and roughly 8 weeks out when we noticed the diets we were sent were
almost exactly the same. At this time,
my daughter was 25, I was 51. She was
competing bikini. I was competing
WP. Our bodies were different. Our goals
were different. Our metabolisms were
different. Why were our diets almost
exactly the same? As I recall, just
about the only difference was that I had asparagus and she had broccoli – or
maybe it was the other way around.
A month or so prior to the show we were registered to participate
in, she competed in a show that Mike Davies held. He also served and the masters of
ceremonies. His wife was expecting their
second child. He announced at the show
that the baby they were expecting was a boy.
He pointed out that he has all boys (5 I believe) and offered his services to those
wanting to have a boy. The
inappropriateness of his comments went on from there to the point where the
family sitting in front of us got up and left.
I’m sure there could have been other reasons for their quick departure
but their body language and comments, in my opinion, seemed to tell all. I was
sitting with my husband and future son-in-law whose only comment was –
seriously – wow. I was enraged. Mostly because I felt like he had
disrespected not only the sport of bodybuilding but all the athletes who had
worked so hard to get to his stage. I
was a month out from my first show and was feeling very disenchanted. I was sharing my feelings about his show and
inappropriate comments with a very close friend. She informed me that Mike had gotten his
start in the 80s with a male review show.
Her husband (now her ex-husband) was one of his performers/strippers. Once she shared that piece of information,
it all made since. He MC’d his
bodybuilding show in the same manner as the male review shows of the 80s. I was – well – confused and tried to do some
research. How could this unprofessional person with no
college degree, no pro-card that I could find, claiming to have 19 years of bodybuilding
experience, be such an influence in this sport.
This is someone I was trusting with my health? After all, I’m responsible for me. I’m responsible for who I trust. I’m responsible for what I do or don’t
eat. I needed to do my research. I had blindly followed a former male review
professional? I felt betrayed. Then I got my critical show week prep shown
below:
From: beefcakedavies@aol.com [mailto:beefcakedavies@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2012 6:49 PM
To: maggiekuhn@ajasphalt.com
Subject:
Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2012 6:49 PM
To: maggiekuhn@ajasphalt.com
Subject:
NUTRITION PLAN
Maggie Kuhn
Show week
WAKE UP: Drink 16 oz of water and take regular
minerals, vitamins and a Spark to sip on thru the workout or take a
thermo
TRAIN/CARDIO: Monday and Tuesaday do a 1.0 mile run then
walk at 6% incline squeezing your ass with each stride then elliptical 20
minutes. Wednesday do a 40 minute non weight baring cardio. Thursday get
up and do a 30 minute elliptical, dress warm and sweat a bit, Friday
practice posing for 20 minutes
MEAL ONE: Eat 1/2 and 4 oz of flank
MEAL SIX: Eat 4 oz of tilapia and 12 almonds
TAKE DAILY (for now)
Supplements remain the same as the past three weeks
• Drink a minimum of 2 gallons of water dailyThru
Wednesday.
• Take 1500 mgs of dandelion root at 2:00 and 6:00 pm
• Cut water back to 1.5 gallons
• Take 1500 mgs of dandelion root at 2:00 and 6:00 pm and
Bedtime
• Cut water back to 1.25 gallons
• Add 2/3 to meal three and five and drop the
asparagus spears
• Take 1500 mgs of dandelion root at 10:00 am 2:00 and 6:00
pm and take 99 mgs of potassium with 2 o’clock d-root
• Take Super dieters tea at bedtime
• Drink 16 oz of water with morning supplements then 4 oz
with each meal.
• 6:00 am: Meal one stays the same
• 7:30 am: Eat 3 oz of tuna rinsed and 10
almonds and 2 plain rice cakes
• 9:30am:
Eat 2/3 cup of oats with 2 Tbsp of PB if your at all flat. If your
holding any water take 1500 mgs of d-root
° • 11:15 am: Eat 1/2 grapefruit prior to
pumping up for your class
• Take in 32 oz of water and take 1500 mgs of d-root after
prejudging. Eat your regular meals four, five and six prior to awards
AWARDS
It was cut and pasted so poorly, it didn’t even make since. Eat ½ of what? How long do I walk at 6%
incline? After the run and before the elliptical? I was also made aware that it was identical
to someone else’s diet. This is why in
my Facebook post and reference to the interview, I called Mike a fraud. There is nothing personal about cut and
pasted identical diets. There is no such
thing as a diet crystal ball and he is not the wizard of oz of diets. Although when questioned, he’s reported to
respond ‘how dare you question the great and powerful ‘guru’ of show diets’. If he truly cared about his athletes, he
would park his ego, recognize that he doesn’t know the science behind the
nutrition and hire someone to be a part of his team that does know. How great would that be for the sport. Coaches who engage a nutrition expert to work
with their clients.
It just so happened that it was time for my yearly
physical. When my doctor, who I’ve known
for years, saw me she was shocked. When
my blood work came back, I was in trouble.
My mercury levels were way elevated from the amount of fish I was
eating. I was having memory issues. My hair was falling out. My family and my
doctor were concerned I was anorexic although I was never officially diagnosed. I
had gone from a 14-16 size jeans to having to order double zeros online from
Express. An evaluation of my diets
ensued. Not good. I was in metabolic distress. Here are a few of the diets I was sent prior
to my show prep diet above, that lead me now this road:
NUTRITION
PLAN
Maggie
Kuhn
October
7, 2012
CHEST,ARM,SHOULDER,
AND OFF TRANINIG DAYS
WAKE
UP: Drink 16 oz of water and take Advocare Coreplex and Drink an
Advocare Spark energy drink
TRAIN/CARDIO: Do 45 minutes of non weight baring cardio
four days min
the
70% max heart rate zone. Two other days
do programs #25 and #19.
MEAL
ONE: Eat 4 egg whites and 1/2 cup of
oats and take glutamine
MEAL
TWO: 6 oz of chicken
DRIN
K A SPARK
SNACK:
Eat 1 plain rice cake with one heaping Tbsp of crushed avocado spread
MEAL
THREE: Eat 4 oz of orange roughy or cod
with 10 banana or jalapeño pepper rings
MEAL
FOUR: Eat 3 oz of tuna rinsed with 10
almonds
DRINK
AN ARGININE EXTREME
CARDIO: Choose fro the following four nights a
week: #8, #14, #18, #22, #24, #27.
MEAL
FIVE: Eat 2 oz of chicken, 1 oz of flank
and 1 egg whites and 1/3 cup of oats with glutamine
SNACK:
Eat 3 oz of tuna with a 1/2 cup of green beans with cinnamon sprinkled over
them and take Advocares Oasis
Drink
a 20 gram low carb low fat shake if you up and hungry or wake up during the
night
LEG
AND BACK DAYS
WAKE
UP: Drink 16 oz of water and take Advocare Coreplex and Drink an
Advocare Spark energy drink
TRAIN/CARDIO: Bike for 10 minutes prior to starting your
workout
MEAL
ONE: Eat pancakes made from 4 egg
whites, 1/3 cup of un sweet apple
sauce,
and a scoop of vanilla protein and take glutamine
MEAL
TWO: Eat 2/3 cup of oats
DRINK
A SPARK
SNACK:
Drink a 30 gram low carb low fat protein shake with 2 heaping Tbsp of Greek
yogurt added to it
MEAL
THREE: Eat 4 oz of orange roughy or cod
with a squirt of lemon atop a cup of spinach leaf lettuce and 1/8 cup of diced
banana or jalapeño with a Tbsp or two of balsamic vinegar
DRINK
ARGININE EXTREME
CARDIO: Pose 10 minutes then bike 20 minutes
MEAL
FOUR: Eat 3 oz of tuna rinsed with 2/3
cup of brown rice
MEAL
FIVE: Eat 2 oz of chicken, 2 oz of flank
and 2 egg whites and take glutamine
SNACK: Eat 4 oz of roughy with a squirt of lemon and
a cup of green beans with cinnamon sprinkled over them and take Advocares Oasis
Advocre
supplements at advocare.com/110918110
My post show – off season diet looked like this:
NUTRITION
PLAN
Maggie
Kuhn
Novemebr
5, 2012
off
season
WAKE
UP: Drink 10 oz of water and take
Coreplex and a dose of Arginine Extreme with a mall apple
TRAIN/CARDIO:
Three days do #1, #4, #13. Two days do #26 or #27
preferably
when your off lifting
MEAL
ONE: Eat 6 egg whites, 1/2 cup of
avocado and two slice of Rudi¹s
gluten
free bread with a Tbsp of honey spread over them.
DRINK: A Spark energy drink.
MEAL
TWO: Eat 4 oz of flank, and a cup of
diced apple with a sprinkle of cinnamon
MEAL
THREE: Eat another 3 oz of tuna with 10 banana pepper rings or jalapeños with a
slice of Rudi¹s gluten free bread
SNACK: Drink a 30 gram low carb low fat shake with 1
Tbp of cashew or almond butter added to it
MEAL
FOUR: Eat 3 oz of flank or salmon or even pork on
occasion with a small salad of your choice with a fat free dressing
TAKE: Drink an Advocare Mass Impact mixed with 1
scoop of Spark
CARDIO: Bike 20 minutes three days followed by 10
minutes of hard abs when training is off or a small body part. If you do more cardi than this tell me
MEAL
FIVE: Eat 6 oz of chicken, Turkey, or
salmon, your choice with 1 cup of green, yellow or white veggies of your choice and a 4 oz baked potato or 2/3
cup of brown rice with a touch of honey and take glutamine
SNACK:
Eat 1 to 2 plain rice cake with a Tbsp of almond butter or Sun Butter added to
them and OR Drink another shake of your
choice if your hungry
TAKE
DAILY (for now)
€ Take Coreplex
€ Take 400 mgs of Vitamin E
€ Drink a minimum of 2.0 gallons of water daily
€ Whole, organic, or fresh foods are better
than frozen, frozen is better than canned
€ 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night and 8 to 10 on
the weekends if at all possible
€ Take a recommended dose of Milk Thistle daily for next four weeks,.
Take
a cheat meal on the weekend and on LEG day.
Drop a meal and one snack on those days.
Get advocare supps from Natalie
I got through my show.
Had a blast!!! I LOVE THIS
SPORT!!! Who knew false eyelashes were
so fun? I made some amazing new friends
I stay in touch with still today. Then
started to re-evaluate. I felt betrayed,
scammed, and really sad. I had been a
total sheeple and now felt lost. It was
then that I e-mailed Dr. Norton. I had
watched some of his videos on Bodybuilding.com and read an article of his in
MD. I never dreamed he would even
respond to my e-mail. I don’t see myself
as the type of client a coach would get excited about. I’m pushing 52 and although I LOVE the sport,
doubt I’ll ever make a splash or a name for a coach or even ever turn pro. To my great surprise, he responded right
away. Within the next few week, he had
taken over my nutrition and began the process of helping me heal, both
physically and mentally. A month or so
later, he had taken over my training.
Again as an adventure with my daughter, while still working with
Natalie, I signed up to compete in the Arnold Amateur much to her dismay and I
can only assume, Mike’s as well. Between
the time I signed up and the actual event, I had hired Dr. Norton. Below was my Facebook post regarding the Arnold
and my participation in WP:
Why
the Arnold?
As I
was getting ready to compete in this year’s Arnold Amateur, I was asked this
question by people I respected insinuating that I was out of my league and/or
not ready for a national level show. Did it impact my self confidence –
oh hell yes. Did it stop me – oh hell no. There is a reason why
it’s called the Arnold AMATEUR – cause we’re NOT pros and NOT perfect.
National show? Not in the since that pro-cards were awarded. Is it
a large show – very much so – and an amazing experience. I hope that
anyone who has the desire to compete, and qualifies, takes this show on.
Please, don’t be discouraged by naysayers.
Several
months before the show, I spent a few days visiting my 85 year old
mother. When it was time for me to leave she told me my sister had shown
her my pictures on FaceBook from my first show and she thought I look terrible
and no woman should look like I do. Silly me, I thought she was going to
tell me she was proud of how hard I was working. After that experience, I
went silent on FaceBook about my plans to compete. My husband, who hates
FaceBook, encouraged me to post the show – so here it is. You may not
like the sport of bodybuilding. You may not understand it at all.
All of that is just fine. After all, I hate golf – it’s just not my thing
– but I respect the golfers, both pro and amateur, for their dedication to the
sport. I would encourage everyone to not speak out of ignorance and most
of all, if you can’t say something nice – keep your damn mouth shut. I
share my journey not to say ‘look at me and how wonderful I am’ I share
my journey to say ‘if I can do this at 51 so can you’. If one person
makes the decision to put down the bonbons and get off the couch, it’s was
worth all the BS I put up with. So, back to my question, why the
Arnold? Here are my top reasons.
1.
I
had the love and support of my amazing husband and family.
2.
This
is a journey I share with my daughter who competes in the bikini
division. She was very excited about competing in the Arnold Amateur with
her Momma.
3.
This
was not only the 25th anniversary of the Arnold but the first year
ever for the new Women’s Physique division. There will never be another
25th anniversary and there will never be another first year for the
Women’s Physique Division. How exciting to be a part of history for this
sport, division and event.
4.
I
had the right attitude. I didn’t care if I came in DFL, I wanted to enjoy
the experience. My goal was to gain lean muscle and improve my problem
area (butt and upper thighs) coming in at the best I could be while improving
my struggles with Metabolic Distress which I attribute to a former diet “guru”
who is anything but.
5.
Support
for my New Year’s resolution of never using my age as an excuse – there was no
age division for this event.
So
where did I end up. Well I had a BLAST!! It felt wonderful to be a
part of such an amazing event. At the last minute, they decided to only
rank the top 5 rather than the top 10 – which was not me – wouldn’t have
expected it to be. Was I DFL – who knows – my family who loves me felt
like I would have been top 10 - I will never know – and guess what, don’t
care. I reached my goals. Was I the oldest – I’m thinking I was –
but guess what, don’t care. These things are NOT relevant and were never
part of my goals.
I
met some really nice people and was actually interviewed by Muscular
Development for a piece on the new Women’s Physique Division – see link.
After
the October show, I hired a REAL bodybuilder/scientist/nutrition expert Dr.
Layne Norton. Not only is he a pro natural body builder but has his PhD
in Nutrition Science. He is helping me with my MD recovery and
training. He is tops in the field and I feel extremely fortunate that he
was even willing to take me on as a client. With his help, I was able to
go into the Arnold much, much healthier than ever before and achieved all of my
goals. I still feel like I’m in recovery but everyday a bit
stronger. It’s interesting that you hear competitors very often
comment that they got into this sport trying to improve their health and
fitness only to find it to be anything but. Well, if you and/or your
trainer think that hunk of metal that will someday end up in a landfill, is
more important than your health, you need a new trainer, a new nutritional coach
and a shrink.
I
was honored to find myself on stage with the amazing athletes at the
Arnold. They have so much to teach me and remind me of how much work I
have ahead. No place to go but up.
Follow – up – I places 11th J NOT DFL!!!!
- my daily macros for the week.
- my weight this week and my weight the prior week.
- my waist measurement this week and my waist measurement the prior week.
- once every 3 weeks I am required to include pictures.
I said it before and I'll say it to my grave – I LOVE THIS SPORT and can only hope to help educate people that there is a healthy way to success in this sport. I beg you to do your research before you trust your health to someone who may claim to 'know the way' but in reality doesn't.
Hugs!!!
Maggie.
