Brains and Biceps by Laura Kline

Before I let her take over, just let me introduce you to Laura Kline. I have said a million times, there is not one person in this world I am inspired by more than Laura. She reminds me so much of an advanced version of me. She is where I hope to be. She is obviously very beautiful, but there is so much more to her. Laura will be making her Figure debut this year, and IS GOING TO BE A STAR in this Industry. THis is the debut of laura's weekly column that I am so honored to have her doing.



Brains & Biceps

A Weekly Column By Laura Kline, BSN-RN and future NPC Figure Competitor


Healthy as a HABIT

You all know those people at work or in your family that are always bothering you when you eat, “I wish I could eat like that everyday,” “Are you trying to lose weight or something?” “I need to go to the gym.” Can we say annoying? It would not be so bothersome if these same people would actually make a change rather than complain every time they see you eating or drinking a protein shake. I understand that it is not easy at first, but is anything in life? I mean the first time you rode a bike did you instantly know how to balance or how to ride with no hands? Heck no, you busted your butt repeatedly until you figured out how to do it right, which is much like living a healthy active life.

If you’ve ever studied philosophy in college or high school you should know about Ivan Pavlov and his famous work with conditioning (Pavlov‘s dog). You know, he rang the bell, the dog immediately thought food and started salivating. We are somewhat similar to this dog unfortunately, but the stimuli isn’t a bell, it’s the media and it is the fast food industry. You see something delicious in a magazine, on the television or while driving down the road you see one of the millions of fast food restaurants in this world and you feel that hunger twinge. This is not a horrible occurrence, it is natural, how you decide to react to this feeling is what is most important. If you can condition or train yourself to not immediately think “Oh I’ve got to have some of that!” then you are definitely heading in the right direction. You can not allow yourself to be so easily influenced to eat some of the cake that one of your co-workers brought (I don‘t care if it‘s gourmet!)! Walk away once and it will become easier the next time you see another treat in front of you to just say no! Just like with Pavlov’s dog, the more and more you begin to react to a situation in a new way, the more and more it will begin to feel natural to you, much like a habit does.

In the past eight years of my life I have conditioned myself to make not just my eating healthy into a habit but my training as well. I have become so conditioned that when I even allow myself a cheat I have a hard time eating it! It becomes somewhat of a disappointment to me, much like a guilt trip. If I miss a work out when I am sick (and I should miss it) I get this same feeling. Although it isn’t a pleasant feeling it is coming from a positive source. I believe that if we took more responsibility for our actions towards our mind, body and soul rather than making excuses “I will start tomorrow” then we would have a healthier and happier world! Throw away that crap food, make yourself a plan and stick to it! It only gets better in time and patience is key!!

“Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anyone expects of you. Never excuse yourself.” Henry Ward Beecher