balance Archives - Justine Switalla

I am so glad that when I competed back in 2008 that the fitness industry isn’t what it is today. When I started out on my fitness journey there was no social media and there was definitely not as much ego around as there is today. I had no one to compare myself too and had no one putting me down behind my back as I just did what I needed to do in the gym and in the kitchen and it was no one else’s concern until comp day.

These days it seems that every girl wants to be a fitness model and a lot of girls only want the accolades and titles that go along with being one. Social media has created a monster and given people a platform to be all they ‘perceive’ to be and more. The sad thing is that you can be anyone you want to be in images and you can tell the world what you think they want to hear and you will get people believing you. A lot of what you read can be so mis-leading and give you the wrong impression of what reality actually is. Real life is hurdles, real life is having set backs, real life is experiencing low days, real life is overcoming adversity, real life is not rainbow’s and fluffy white clouds! For people to really get a grasp on reality they need to understand that no one is perfect and no one has the perfect body, perfection is in the eye of the beholder and seeing things for what they really are will help you be able to move forward and become YOUR best and achieve YOUR best body.

These days I will always tell the truth and call a spade a spade, I have had my fair share of girls latch on to me over the years and now I honestly have no time for it. I will give to those that I actually know and who deserve my time but having had my fair share of girls only want something from me so that they can benefit has left me only to believe and trust in a few.

I believe that what you see isn’t always what is and that unfortunately you can not take things for face value these days. I know that when I was unhappy within myself and seeking validation from the outside world I would preach that my life was amazing when in fact I was covering up to the fact that I didn’t have inner peace and was seeking approval from the public.
At the time I was being genuine and couldn’t see my actions for what they were, this is something that I have now looked back on and realised that I had done. You can put it down to the fact that I am always looking to improve myself and always trying to better who I am and be as honest with not only myself but to the women who follow me. I believe that being vulnerable and sharing my growth with others will hopefully inspire and help women to make better choices and not beat themselves up over the silly little things.

I love social media and know that it has helped me move forward in my career but I also see a huge negative to it in that it isn’t reality and far too many women see images and read statements and buy into them and then they feel insignificant and not good enough as their lives are no where near what they are reading day in day out.

I don’t want to hear that your life is amazing everyday and that you are loving life, that does not motivate or inspire me one bit. I would love to scream that from the roof tops everyday but it just isn’t necessary, if you are truly content and happy within yourself then why do you need the world to know? Don’t get me wrong, it is fine to share your happiness from time to time with everyone, we all want to see people happy and living their lives to the fullest but when it is a daily external ritual that has to be shared then I question its authenticity!

Being happy doesn’t mean that you need approval or validation from the world, it doesn’t mean that you need everyone to know about it, it means that you are happy within yourself and can just ‘be’, you can live in the moment and be at peace with who you are and where you are at in life.

Far too many women these days are left feeling lost and alone by what they read and it is frustrating for me to see. I am strong enough to not take a lot of what I see on board but I know for a fact that there are a lot of broken women out there who need to know that fitness model’s have bad days and don’t eat organic 24/7. They need to know that those that are in peak condition have shit days and days where they lack motivation and give in to temptation and are just all round NORMAL people!

My respect these days goes out to those that I can see are growing in an industry that is heading down a very fake path, I respect those that can own up to their downfalls and learn from them. Those that are out there telling the TRUTH to people and not sugar coating the bullshit that lies underneath the surface.

I am all for seeing people achieve their goals, I just wish that with that there were more honesty and more people out there telling it how it actually is so that the general public can feel content and happy with who they are and feel worthy of achieving all they deserve!

Justine xx

The past few months I feel like I have been on some sort of adrenalin rush, the hype and excitment towards my competition, my Oxygen magazine photo shoot and then our Thailand health and fitness seminar. It all went wayyyy to fast and now I am left to deal with the aftermath.

For starters you have to let your body rebalance itself after been on a depletion diet your body reacts in all sorts of ways. I am struggling a bit with fluid retention at the moment and I guess all the extra sugars I had in Thailand were not so good for my waistline or my head space;)

Even us girls who have been in the game for a long time still go through those physical image issues and need our heads to be checked at times. I know I look healthy and I know that no one else would notice but the fact that you have been in such amazing shape still plays havoc with your head. I think we tend to forget what ‘normal’ is and what ‘healthy’ is. We have to remind ourselves that it isn’t healthy to be shredded 24/7, it would be nice if we could but it just isnt manageable if you want a life outside of the gym. I tell girls all the time that the way I look in my pics is not maintainable, it is great to look at my pics and use them as inspiration but unless you really need to get super shredded for a comp or a shoot then you should always be aiming for a healthy goal, one that you can find a healthy balance with and not have to starve your body of nutrients.

I am not too sure what is next for me in regards to whether I will compete again or whether I will just train for shoots and life, I have a lot options and that is a good thing. All I know is that right now I need a mental break away from worrying about comps and been super lean, I need time to focus on ME and all the business ventures that I have lined up.

I know for a fact that there won’t many people out there who can honestly say that they haven’t experienced low points after reaching a goal. For me there is a positive in these low points as it has been those low points that have made me who I am today, I like call these low points, turning points.

Without the lows we can not truly appreciate the highs, the most successful people have hit rock bottom before climbing there way to the top.

Now I am in no means saying that I am at rock bottom, I am just at a cross roads, I have made a few big decisions and have some very exciting new paths to venture down. Sometimes taking a new path can be just as daunting as starting again as you pretty much have the same amount of doubt and fear that can creep in.

In life you have to trust your gut, you have to trust in YOU and back yourself 100%. That way no matter what happens you know you have given it your all and comitted to making your life as exciting and as adventorous as possible. No one ever said it was going ot be easy and if they did then they are in for a shock, cos it’s not!

Be true, be brave and keep it real my friends xx

Well just like that it is all over.. all the blood sweat and tears of 5 months of solid training all comes down to just one day on stage to show off all your hard work.

I had an absolute ball up on that stage and loved every minute of showing off my hard work and dedication.

My training leading into my comp was pretty specific- I trained heavy weights 4 x per week- back/chest, arms/shoulders, legs, back/shoulders, I taught 3 RPM classes and also taught 2 x CXworx classes. Remember that I have trained continuously for around 5 years so I have had loads of development time, it takes TIME to gain lean mass and develop your body! Also during my comp prep I decided to give up teaching body attack and step down from my presenting role within Australia and Asia, this was such a hard decision but I decided to see how I would respond to my training by taking out the high impact cardio training and if it would make a difference to the amount of lean mass I was trying to gain, in the end it was the right decision for me. Not only did it help with gaining lean mass it gave me more recovery time and as we all know recovery is CRUCIAL!

Here is a Photo from my comp and also a before and after transformation pic on the right, the one on the top right was taken in Dec 2011, so that is 5 months before my comp.

My diet was super strict from 5 weeks out with limited fats(only before training), no carbs and lots of protein, salad and green veggie and NO cheat meals. I need you all to understand that a depletion diet is not necessarily a healthy diet and it is one that can NOT be carried on into everyday life, it is only so I can get to my goal body fat. I always say to people that when I am at my leanest I am not at my healthiest. Taking essential nutrients out of your diet is not the way to go long term, I can not stress that enough.

It was an amazing experience to compete in front of my family and to take out 1st place was just a bonus, it is always good to win but the way I see it is that you are a winner before you step on stage.

Where to from here….. I think I have got the bug again.. hehe!!! I have a feeling I might try and get my butt over onto the US stage at the end of the year, I want to do it for fun and not for any other reason but to see how I measure up against the girls overseas.

Here are a couple of you tube clips from my 3 rounds, have a look and watch me working it on stage.
I hope my videos inspire you to achieve all you dream and more!!!

Justine xx

Hey ladies,

I felt a video blog on learning to love oneself and understand your body better was in order. It is so common to hear girls talking about all their own faults and pointing out their bad spots. I can not stress enough that your focus around this has to shift in order for you to achieve your goal.

Watch this as many times as you need and have it on stand by for ‘those days’ when you need it 😉

A Juzzy Rant- My views on the Fitness Industry today

Tag: balance