IFBB Bikini Olympia 2012 (Part 1)

Hi ya'll,

Today I'm back home to Bremerton, WA; crisp morning dew on my bicycle seat, an empty fridge, and an inbox full of messages remind me I'm back to reality after spending Thursday-Sunday living the dream. The dream of competing in the big kahuna of all fitness competitions: The Olympia.

 
Link to: Bodybuilding.com - 2012 Olympia Weekend Coverage

The word "Olympia" is plastered on inspiration boards, gallon water jugs, rubber bracelets, and the front of workout journals of Olympia-hopefuls all across the world as a constant reminder of what they're training for. Or at least what they hope to someday be training for! I am beyond blessed to be one of the few who can say, "I am an Olympian," and I have photos and a medal to prove it! The Olympia is the show that most only wish of attending, and few achieve the privilege and honor of competing in. With a 2nd place finish in my Pro Debut at the IFFB St. Louis Bikini Pro, I qualified for the last available slot to in the Bikini Olympia, a short two weeks after receiving my invite. Let me just say those last two weeks were 120% blood, sweat, and tears to bring my best. I got closer to my coach than ever, as she led me closer than ever to my fitness goals than ever. I went to the Olympia last year: Blessed the The Olympia blog post, but not as an "Olympian!"

Shannon and I post-show

. . . . Before I go any further, I must say "Thank You" . . .

The Olympia may have been in Vegas, but I know I'm not lucky- I'm blessed. A year and a half ago I entered a Bikini show at the suggestion of my then acquaintance, now dear friend- Jerika Allick. I loved it- so I googled "Nathalia Melo's trainer," found Team Bombshell and struck out on a journey to compete as an NPC athlete: hoping to inspire many, share what I was bound to learn about health and fitness, and e an example the dreams an the desires of your heart CAN come true. See where I started here: Going For it: My First Competition. How it went: Bikini Babay!!, And how I joined Team Bombshell: No Plan B - Joining Team Bombshell.

Today I look back in awe of how far I have come!! I am a Team Bombshell trained athlete, I have won multiple Bikini shows and an Overall title, become a Zipfizz sponsored athlete, earned my Pro card, signed with the elite Fitness Management Group (FMG), competed and placed second in my Pro debut, and qualified for Miss Bikini Olympia!  I even had the opportunity to do a 5 page spread for Muscle&Fitness Hers. See it! The trip recap: New York:  M&F Hers Modeling.

I can hardly believe how many blessings God has given me, lead me to, and helped me obtain. Or how many trials and tribulations He has faithfully lead me through; and how many times He provided provision and help when I needed it most. Often times, it was through the amazing people in my life. You may not think you made any difference in my life, but you all have touched heart in a special way- THANK YOU. You are an angel into my life and I will always remember your kindness :) 

Training for the Olympia is more than physical training- I would actually say it was more of a mental and spiritual workout to rise to the title of "Olympian" than it was a physical workout. I am a stronger woman and Christian than I was 2 weeks ago! You really get to know God when the stakes rise above your own control. And I'm glad they did.

 

 So, you get it- I trained hard and brought my best- You ask:
- "Was it worth it, was it fun, am I happy with my presentation?"
It was SO worth it, the most fun I have EVER  had at a show, and I definitely improved my presentation and strutted that stage with confidence and nailed my routine! 

- "How'd I place?" "Did I win?" I did not win. I know, maybe next time ;) No, out of the top 32 women in the WORLD: I tied for 16th place, aka the last place that is judged after the top 15 to save hastle to the judges from trying to decide 32nd from 31st. Tying with my inspirations and coaches, Vanessa Campbell, Diana Graham, and Sky Taylor among others. How awesome is that?! 

L to R: Skye, Vanessa. me

Me and Nicole Moener

Me and Nicole Nagrani

Me and Amanda Latona

In case you missed it, Nathalia Melo WON. A tough decision between her and defending champ Nicole Nagrani, it was sexy (Nathalia) vs. Cute (Nicole) for the win. This time sexy prevailed. Both girls, and 3rd place finisher, India Paulino (shout out to her and a huge thank you for doing my foundation/make-up base for the show! Thank you so much!) are Team Bombshell teammates of mine so of course I am ecstatic for their success!!

Bombshells again dominated the bikini stage :)



Nathalia and Nicole backstage before Finals

See all the action from the Friday's prejudging (Day #1) and Bikini Finals (Day #2)  ....
** TONS of PHOTOS and VIDEO REPLAY at the links below **

- courtesy of Bodybuilding.com

PHOTOS 

   ~ 2012 IFBB Olympia Weekend - Athlete Check-in Photos

   ~ 2012 Olympia: Women's Prejudging Report

   ~ Ruthie Harrison 2012 Bikini Olympia Prejudging Photos (*Me!!*)

   ~ Nathalia Melo Wins Bikini Olympia

Team FMG at Meet the Olympians

 

VIDEOS

   ~ 2012 IFBB Bikini Prejudging Replay, Part 1

   ~ 2012 IFBB Bikini Prejudging Replay, Part 2

   ~ 2012 IFBB Bikini Olympia Confirmation Webcast Replay  

Whew! So that covers my competing experience on Friday, next post will be about Saturday where I worked the Muscle and Fitness/FLEX magazine booth at the Olympia Expo, judged the FLEX Bikini Model Search (yes- the very show that I competed in last year!), "fun meal" dinner out :), and all the Vegas after-party festivities!!

 

Blessings,

Ruthie

 

"Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." - Psalm 37:5

Muscle&Fitness Hers

Happy Happy Leap Year-Day :)

I know I must say this all the time (because it's true all the time haha) but I got super busy over the weekend and didn't get a chance to post a Sunday Share! I gotta get back in the swing of things and start posting again. However, on Sunday I was doing food prep until 11pm so that was SO not happening this week lol.

BUT since we have an "extra" day this month I have some extra time! Not really, but I'd like to pretend so. Today's post is a pretty awesome opportunity I got to do back around Christmas, but it can out this month :) I shot a workout feature for Muscle & Fitness Hers magazine and it's out in the March/April issue!!




That's me!

 The feature was my first ever fitness modeling gig! The workout is on the "5 Glutes Exercises for that Bikini Bottom"  It's a great issue with tons of good content. In stores now ;)

We also filmed a cool training video in which I demonstrate all the exercises and talk a bit about my plans for competing this year. Officially, my nest show is NPC Pittsburgh on May 5th, then I'll be trying for my Pro Card in a Pro Qualifier after that. We (coach Shannon and I) haven't nailed down what we wanna do after Pittsburgh, but my next show after that might be Jr. USAs, as I mention in the video. A huge thank you to Muscle&Fitness Hers, Editor in Chief Mona Muresan, my coach Shannon Dey, Team Bombshell, my family, and the one and only Jesus for the never ending blessings :)

Here's the link to the video: Ruthie Harrison Muscle and Fitness Hers. Enjoy!

Bombshell SUPER-Camp

Hey hey ya'll!

I hope every one is having a great weekend. Who's stoked it's a 3-day weekend!? Silly question... I know I'm definitely excited for an extra day to catch up. Especially since I was away last weekend and got a LOT of laundry and food prep, homework, and work to catch up on.

Speaking of being away, I was in Daytona, FL at Team Bombshell Supercamp.

Think of it as 3 intense days of boot camp style workouts, posing, stage makeup lessons, modeling and media marketing lectures, Q&A with IFBB Pro girls, a fabulous dinner, new friends...

"Give me 20 pop squats!!" Coach V. got our butts in gear (literally)
and made us earn our Saturday night banquet dinner



Plyo time!



My group after running the bridge, TWICE!



More plyos...

Finally a short rest to listen to a lecture on modeling in fitness magazines!

All that, AND a new suit! The amazing CJ of CJ's Elite suits is making me not one, but TWO new suits for the upcoming season!! (the details are secret until we get closer to competition time ;) ) She is THE BEST choice to get your bikini or figure competition suit. She does all the Pros, basically everyone: Diana Graham, Heather Nappi, Vannessa Campbell, Jaime Baird, Nicole Nagrani, India Paulino... the list goes on! I am so so blessed and CJ is sponsoring me and upgrading me to "bling the $h!t out of my suit" from the basic one I ordered. Her suits are expensive, and I couldn't afford the really elaborate ones but God has his ways and I am blessed to get one even though I can't afford it!

Another amazing blessing was being awarded "Most Improved Bikini Bombshell of 2011" by my flippin' awesome coach, Shannon Dey. It's all because of her I came this far since joining in May 2011 and I can't WAIT to see what 2012 brings!

I <3 this woman so much, she's the best
coach I could ever ask for and is loving, hilarious,
hard-working, and beautiful to boot!

The whole trip was a huge blessing actually. I had SUCH a blast, grew closer to my Bombshell teammates, learned how to pose a bazzillion times better, and learned a ton about the modeling industry, networking, working booth at expos, how to work with photographers, how to be a good example/role model, "branding" yourself, and most importantly... how to enjoy the whole process! Jaime Baird had a great lecture about finding your joy along the path to your goals and making the journey enjoyable for your loved ones too.

Jaime Baird is a truly beautiful woman inside and out

I love going to camp because I get to bond with my friends/teammates and make new friends too. That is one of the best parts of competing being on Team Bombshell. It's like a family. We all love, support, and cheer each other on which makes it all so so much easier when we get home and have to face life's challenges, temptations and set-backs. Life is better with back up!!



New friends and re-united friends!
I'm in the middle in the black dress

My roomie and WA homie Mary and I

My other roomie and homegirl Leslie :)

Bombshell NorthWest girls!! We're all from WA, ID, or MT.. and
we're taking the world by storm ;) Watch out!

After camp was over my roomies, Mary and Leslie, and my friend who just graduated Montana Tech where I still go, Danielle, went to this cool little town called St. Augustine to sight-see and explore. It was such a cute little town! Apparently it's the oldest town in America and was established by Spanish explorers way way back. There's a fort, cathedrals, and cool old buildings all over the place- integrated into new shops and restaurants. Defintely check it out of you're ever arounf Daytona, FL. It's just about 30 min up the coast.

That's all! Until next time my friends... be blessed!!

~ Ruthie

A Bombshell Valentines Day ♥

~ Happy Valentines Day to all my Lovely Readers!! ~

My awesome friend Bobby Black made me
this cute little V-day card! I hope you like :)

I just want to give you all a great big hug and say THANK YOU for making me feel so loved, blessed, and joyful. I got to meet a couple readers over the weekend when I was down in Daytona over the weekend at Bombshell SuperCamp whipping my booty into shape and WOW... I am soooo honored to be looked up to as a fitness motivator and inspiration by the very women who inspire ME. How lucky am I?!? Or as I like to say it, blessed.

I would not be able to keep such a positive attitude, and a desire and love for the sport of Bikini competitions, and the world of fitness if I didn't have my Bombshell teammates (sistas), my amazing blog readers, my family, and my friends who've been there long before I ever stepped on a stage or typed a word onto this blog. I thank and love each one of you from the bottom of my heart.

   As Philippians 2:2 says, You "complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, and being in full accord." ... Without like-minded fitness guys and gals like YOU I'd feel oh so alone. But I don't, I feel loved and appreciated :)

 I'll be posting photos from Bombshell Camp later this week, but in the meanwhile, stop by my Facebook fan page: Ruthie Harrison - Bikini Athlete Fan Page, there's a few pictures posted there!

Lots of love,
~Ruthie

Sunday Share ... Food is Fuel + We're SO Blessed

Hey ya'll sorry to not post as much lately, I've been quite busy with school and reffing... I reffed 6 games in the last 2 days alone! Unfortunately that led to me getting sick and sleeping from 4pm yesterday to 2pm today :/ I still feel quite under the weather so today's post will be short.

I hope you all enjoyed my last couple posts on food prep, "eating clean," and dieting tips. My friend and Bombshell Teammate, Abby Clark, also wrote about food on her blog, "The Bikini Competitor" and it's a really GOOD article filled with information. Check it out here: Food Is Fuel.


Also, be sure to stop by my Facebook Fan Page to see all the photos from my VEGAS trip and photoshoot with Bobby Black of B2 Photography. They turned out so so good. He's an amazing man too; he'd just gotten back from a missions trip to an orphanage in Haiti with Jamie Eason and her fiance the week before our shoot. He showed me some of his photos from the trip and I was blown away. See some of the photos for yourself by clicking here: Haiti Album. 

Photo taken by Bobby Black

Photo taken by Bobby Black

We are so blessed to live in such luxury and lack of need in the United States. I mean, these kids hadn't even ever had a lollipop in their entire lives and we give them away free at our bank's tellers. I get to make a huge difference in a child's life by providing my Compassion International child, Newton, with enough money each month to pay for him and his mother's food, and enough money for him to go to school. I also get to fund the Aids Initiative Project in his village to provide the whole town with fresh clean water and fund research to help prevent aids from spreading. It's such a small sacrifice for me... only about $40 a month... but it's the WORLD to him.


I'm signing off to go sleep some more... I hope ya'll had a great weekend!
God bless,

~ Ruthie

Food Prep: The Key to Fitness Success

The key to successfully maintaining a clean diet is planning ahead. I know this is not everyone's strong point but it is vital to first - HAVE a plan, and second - FOLLOW your plan.

Plan.. then Prepare! Here we go, today we're discussing: Food Prep

Get ready to bust out the Tuperware, or see below - plastic baggies!

I use plastic baggies to store my food to save space. It also allows me
to prepare further ahead because I don't have to worry about buying
3 weeks worth of tuperware!

I have a the benefit of a personized food plan sent to me every month by my coach, Shannon Dey, because I am a Team Bombshell athlete. I would not be able to train hard, stay healthy, and make the necessary changes and improvements in my physique if I wasn't following a solid nutritional plan. Food is the fuel your body needs to build muscle, metabolize fat, think quickly, fight disease and repair injury, which is why it is vital that you're meeting your daily calorie, protein, carbohydrate and fat needs.

My food plan is likely more strict and repetative than others (At Team Bombshell, we repeat the same day's worth of meals for an entire month - unless changes are required to meet our goals) but there's no reason you can't apply the same techniques I use to prepare my food to your own plan!


If you dont already pay attention to your diet, I strongly encourage you to jump on the clean-eating band wagon. I PROMISE you the results will floor you and you'll be happier and healthier for life! Read my last post - Fit Lifestyle: What Should You Eat? for all the details.

Eat CLEAN. Train MEAN.

Remember: Abs are made in the kitchen!

If your diet is poor, your progress will be slow.

So, without further ado here's how I prepare all my food for 1-2 weeks in advance so all I have to do during the week is pop it in a microwave! (or eat it cold, which happens more often than not)

I do all my food prep on a single day, usually Sundays. There's a few things that're essential to this process working smoothly: 

1) Decide what you're making - what meals will you be eating? What foods you need to buy? Do you need cooking gear (pans, baggies, muffin pans, ect)?
2) Grocery shop ahead of time and always...
3) Bring a grocery list - don't leave home without it!
4) Set aside 3-5 hours to do all your cooking - this may sound like a lot of time, but until you've done it a couple times and are good at using your time efficiently it will take longer. I recommend just assuming it will take an afternoon, and go to work!
5) Enlist help if possible - I don't have this luxury, but if you have kids/hubby/roomates/friends you can snag to help you, do it! They can chop, pre-heat, watch the rice, flip the chicken, baggie, ect... make it a fun time to bond so they'll want to help again :)

Okay, so now that we're prepared, let's cook!

 - I always start with my proteins. I usually am eating chicken, tillapia, and flank steak in my meal plan. I usually cook all my meat on the stove top. I have tried baking my fish, or slow-cooking my chicken (which is delicious!) but I've found these methods to be more time consuming.

 - Preheat your pans while you cut the meat into bite-size pieces. Also, start boiling water if you'll need it (see next step). Preheat the oven too, usually 350 deg F, if you'll be using it to cook your sweet potatoes or other vegetables.

 - Next, it's carb time. I usually have brown rice, sweet potatoes, and whole wheat pasta. On the stove top, multi-task your 4 oven burners to cook your meats and the carb that will be in the same meal at the same time as that meat. Ie, Meal #2 is chicken with brown rice and green beans; so cook the chicken and the rice at the same time. This will insure you can COMPLETE a week's worth of that meal with all the "components" - protein, carb, vegetable/oil (if any). It's a huge waste of time and space to have too many meals uncompleted at the same.

Here's what it looks like - I have my proteins: chicken
 breast and shrimp cooking on 2 burners. And my
carbs: rice and whole wheat noodles cooking on the other
2 burners.

Just a note in case you were curious, this is the pasta I usually use. You can find it at Safeway. Any whole wheat pasta will do though! For rice, I just buy basic brown rice.

Eating Right Whole Grain Penne pasta

 - Your oven should be ready to cook your sweet potatoes or other vegetables, so put those in so they can get started, and continue to cut up any other meats  and vegetables you'll be using. For example, I cut up my steak while my shrimp and chicken were cooking because I knew the shrimp would cook fast and I'd have a free burner soon. Keep an eye on it though! I've burned many a chicken breast :p

I bake my asparagus at 375 def F until they're still crunchy
but softened a bit. Remember, you'll most likely be microwaving
your food after this before you eat it.

  - Keep rotating your proteins, and set aside finished meat on cookie sheets to cool before bagging. This frees up your pan for the next protein.

Get everything laid out BEFORE you start bagging. I use: Ziploc baggies,
sandwich or snack size (depending on the meal size) and a basic food scale

 - The rest of my vegetables, besides asparagus and sweet potatoes - like green beans, peas, or zucchini, I don't cook before I bag my meals. I find they get cooked enough when I microwave the meal before I eat it OR I just eat it raw if I eat my food cold.

 - As all the "components" of say, Meal 2, get done: protein, carb, vegetable/oil (if any) you can begin to bag. Don't wait till EVERYTHING is done to start bagging. Things will still be in the oven, on the stove top, ect, but this definitely has to be a multi-tasking process to be efficient. As you can see in the picture below, I still have meat cooking on the stove as I baggie Meal #2:

Multi-tasking inproves food prep efficiency by utilizing the down time of
waiting for your other food to finish cooking.

 - If you weigh your meat, do that first and put that it the baggie FIRST. This way you don't have to "tare" or "zero" your scale between each individual bag like you would if it already had vegetables or something in it. Weigh out ALL of the specific type of protein, even if you have say 8 days worth of chicken, but only 6 days worth of rice to go with it... you can freeze the extra chicken and it'll already be weighed and ready for the next time you prep your food.

 - Then, add the carb. If it's rice, measure out a "serving". Usually 1/2 cup but varies by dietary needs. Last veggies, add a "serving"  of those- usually 1/2 cup too. Last, add any olive oil or vinegar, salsa, ect to complete the meal.

 - Wash your hands and close all your baggies at once. This may seem like it doesn't matter but it saves time if your brain only has to focus on "zip the top, zip the top, zip the top" at one time instead of: "open bag, add meat, adjust weight...zip top... open bag, add meat..." Wash your hands so you don't get food on the outside of the bag or in the zip top. 

 - Write the meal number on the outside of the Ziploc with a Sharpie pen.
Like so:

- Repeat this process: bag protein, add carb, add veggies, add oils/misc, close bags, label - as all the "components" of your other meals finish cooking. Ie: the fish and noodles finish cooking... bag meal 3 - fish, pasta and 1/2 cup peas. And so on.

 - Stow finished meals in the fridge to keep them food-safe and keep them out of your way as you finish. Finally, when ALL meals are done you're ready to assemble each day's worth of food.

 - I use a gallon size Ziploc bag for each day, I place one baggie of meals 1-6 in the Ziploc bag and freeze them. I leave 2 days worth unfrozen in the fridge and replenish the fridge from the freezer as the week progresses. Here's what my freezer looks like right now:

Warning: your roommates may not appreciate you hogging the freezer space :p

A note on carbs - It's often hard to gauge how much rice/pasta or how many sweet potatoes you'll need, so if you have too much rice or noodles it's okay to put them in a Tupperware and freeze them until you need them next week. Just be sure to plan ahead and thaw them out before you need them!

Whew! I feel like I just prepped for the week by writing that! Oh wait, I already did that :) I'm set for the next 8 days and I don't have to cook a thing!! Okay, I DO cook my breakfast fresh every morning. This is because it's usually egg whites and oatmeal so it's easy to whip up. If I'm traveling I'll make breakfast ahead of time too by making a protein pancake out of the egg whites and oatmeal in a bowl in the microwave a baggie-ing it like everything else.


Good luck preppin'! Let me know by commenting below or contacting me via Facebook if you have any questions on my methods :)

Blessings,
~ Ruthie

''It's not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference.'' 

 - Paul Bryant

NPC Nationals: T -30 days

Wednesday is here once again, yay for being half done with  another round of classes and workouts!!

I haven't posted on my progress with Team Bombshell in a while, but I HAVE been making progress so let's discuss! I just got a new cardio/workout plan from my coach, Shannon Dey, yesterday based on my progress pictures I sent in on Monday.

(FYI, now that my blog is not re-posted to the Montana Tech website I will be sharing my competition progress. I will still keep the content PG because that's just the way I am, but I will have bikini pictures... just to warn you!) This blog chronicles my journey to NPC Nationals and you're along for the ride :)

 Here's the current package:

Front view as of 10/17/2011



Better ab definition and smaller waist than 3 1/2 weeks ago
at the WA Ironman. Down 3lbs from then, mostly body fat.

Abs goal: tight, but not too pronounced

Let's just say.. it's brutal. Welcome back 2-a-day cardio sessions, supplementary squats/butt toning exercises, and... abs! I do abs 3 x a week now. The last time I did a crunch was quite a while ago, and I only did them for 2 weeks before the WA Open. I was waaaayyy lean for that show, dieted down to 129lbs on stage. As of today I weigh 144lbs.  You might remember I was on a muscle gaining "smooth out" and add curves plan for a couple months, but adios!! I gained a bit too much fat with the muscle and was up to 147lbs about 3 weeks ago. I really wasn't too happy with my midsection/waist in my pictures from the FLEX Bikini Model Search and the WA Ironman. Somehow I still managed to pull out an Overall win but THAT was the grace of God ;)

A little to soft in the belly!!

So, I am excited to kick butt at a completely killer plan and make lightning speed progress towards a tigher rear and smaller waist. I was completely overwhelmed when I read the part of Shannon's email about my workout changes, starting: "Also add..." I was pretty proud of my progress... but she's right! I got a ways to go before I am stage ready again.

I want NPC Nationals to be the best I have ever looked on stage. Which is somewhere between the super-lean look of the WA Open, and the smoother look of the WA Ironman. Closer to the second, but as Shannon says, with a "tighter booty" haha.

With that, I give you Exhibit A - A tighter booty:

Belonging to Bombshell India Paulino

For comparison, here's a flashback to the much skinnier look I had at the WA Open:

Versus the much softer look I had at the FLEX Bikini Model Search. Notice the belly ;)

So just so we're clear, I LOVE my body and i think I look awesome in all the pictures... I worked dang hard to be in the Top 99% of fit chicks, but there is always room for improvement. Yes, I am nit-picking and focusing on the small changes I want to see, but as long as I look at it in a positive light and head out on this journey of presenting my best Bikini competition package ever by November 18th I do not see it as a bad thing to notice what I need to change. Like I said, I love my body! I'm just gonna tweak it a bit to do everything I can to Lord willing earn my PRO card come Nationals!

Wish me luck and please keep me in your prayers, I got a tough 30 days ahead of me! One day at a time, one small victory at a time, hopefully leading up to a big one :)

Blessings,
Ruthie


PS - I got another sponsor!! Shout out and a HUGE thank you to Frank and Ann Gilmore for sponsoring me for Nationals :) AND to Staci Angelly for gifting me a membership to FUEL fitness for my prep-month before Nationals... love you all!! xoxo