Interviewing MFP legends: MireyGal76

This is a small series of interviews conducted with certain MFP’ers who have been active in the community for a while now and are seen by many MFP users as knowledgeable, inspiring and in general, legends.



Today I am interviewing MireyGal76. She is considered by many to have the ideal body. She can kick most of our butts by boxing (and we most certain won’t mind if she does). She is inspirational, helpful, motivating and the fact that she is an amazing mom makes it all the better. She is Canadian but we won’t hold that against her. Let us get started with interviewing a legend!



Okay so let us dig into it. Tell us what got you started? Were you always athletic and healthy person or were you a couch potato and one day decided to change your life? How out of shape you were before you started your "journey"?

I've always been active. I grew up spending my summers running around at the lake, swimming for hours on end. I played baseball, rode my bike, and watched very little TV. I was on the thinner side.

When I got married, I married someone who was from a family that consumed copious amounts of pasta, had cheesecake and dainties at every dinner, and cooked all their food in fat. My house was always stocked with treats, pop, chips... and I was in heaven. Thankfully I stayed pretty active, and didn't gain too much, but I did get a nice layer of insulation around my belly.

I fell in love with running (where I had detested it beforehand). This was around the time that my marriage was breaking down, and the running helped me think through things, and sort through the pain. As things at home got worse and worse, I turned to boxing, and immersed myself in both boxing and running. However, I didn't really see any changes in my body. I didn't understand (or care to) how calories "worked".. and used the exercise as an excuse to eat all the doritos, and slather my food in ranch dressing and sour cream. When I look back at how I ate, I cannot even imagine how many calories I was consuming.

Shortly after that, I found MFP and started watching my calories. I started learning how to track calories, and that's when I saw the real changes start to show.

Awesome, so tell me, which diet pills did you take to become so thin? I hear there is something new coming out that Dr. Oz said will revolutionize weight loss and you can eat whatever you want , not workout and still lose weight. What are your thoughts about this pill or do you support something else?

Which diet pills do I take? I'm not a pill popper - I hate pills. But I do take a mulitvitamin and vitamin C daily. I also had to start taking the bitter pill of reality. It took me a while to realize that there are no quick fixes. Health and fitness come through gradual changes and hard work.

There is no miracle cure. There is no quick fix. If I work hard, then I pretty much DO eat whatever I want. If I can't fit in workouts, then I need to eat smarter.

I love to eat... I really do. I am a huge treat fan too - cookies, chocolate, taco chips, burgers, bacon - I love them all. My life would suck without them. So I do what I need to do to make it happen. For me, that is working hard.


Okay so you say diet and exercise, can you recommend me some diet friendly foods? I hear good things about Kale and Spinach. I know I must avoid potatoes and white rice and bread. Should I just go full on vegan?

I don't believe in a "diet" per se. I do use the word "diet" in terms of the daily intake of foods, but I do not believe in dieting.
There is no good food, and no bad food. There is food that is better for meeting your goals, perhaps. And there are plenty of healthy foods that have physical health benefits. But I'd never tell anyone to stay away from potatoes, white rice, bread... or sugar, chocolate, fast food.

I am hungry a lot... so in order to best satisfy that hunger, I have learned to spend my calories more wisely. On days when I know I cannot exercise, I will avoid the chocolates and donuts, potatoes and bread... and eat way more chicken (because it is more filling for the calories).

Foods that I LOVE to eat...that I need to budget for (and manage to regularly consume)...
- tim hortons (donuts, bagel belts, coffee with espresso, cream and sugar)
- quaker harvest crunch cereal - I love it and it is healthy, but it is expensive in terms of calories
- muffins
- thai noodles
- bread
- cheese (GAWD I LOVE CHEESE)
- ice cream (with bananas and chocolate sauce)

I don't eat "clean" (just check my diary)... but most days... I am content with my choices.

What about workouts? Somebody who is too overweight might not be able to run and I hear walking just doesn't do anything for weight loss.

For me, when I work out, I push HARD. As hard as I can. I work full time, commute 1.5 hours a day, and am a single mom with a fairly large house / property. I have A LOT of demands on my time, so I can't commit to going to the gym 3x a week for 45min a time.

I CAN commit to one hour a week on Thursdays - which I use to go to a boxing class. The class is touted as our city's "hardest workout" and I don't doubt that it ranks up there. It is a solid hour of busting butt, lots of sweating, pushups, planks, crunches, stairs, boxing, squats, leg raises, etc. It is a very tough workout that uses up every ounce of energy I have. That class is my focus point for the week.

The rest of the week, I try to find time to add in a couple of weight workouts (in my basement after the kids go to bed), or a 2 - 6 mile run on days when the kids are with their dad. I also do all the yard work (which can be exhausting).

For those who are starting out though... all I say is this... DO MORE THAN WHAT YOU DID BEFORE. If you spent most of your day on the couch... then going for a 20 minute walk is BETTER than what you were doing. Park further from the stores... don't take the closest spot. Climb the stairs instead of taking the escalator or elevator, or climb the stairs on the escalator. Simply adding in more to what you were doing before will help you. The harder you can push, the faster you will see results... but even little changes will make a difference over time.

You just have to start somewhere.

What motivates you to get up and do these workouts? I am specifically asking you about the days when you don’t want to get out of bed and have lost all hope and don’t wanna do anything and this goes on for weeks, how do you pump yourself up.

What motivates me? A few different things...

FAMILY:
Another big part is that my girls (7 and 9 soon) look up to me. I'm their role model. They like that their mom does those crazy mud runs, and they like telling their friends about it. I love being able to run with them, play with them, lift them and carry them easily (and they're pretty heavy!).

PRACTICALITY:
I love the fact that my almost 60lb 7 year old can fall asleep in the car, and I can pick her up, carry her to the house, through the house and up the stairs, placing her into her bed without waking her. I need to be in shape in order to mow my lawn, and shovel my snow. I have a lot to do in a day, and being in shape helps me have that energy. Oh, and I also love that I am strong enough to run a 10k in the morning, rip up sod for a flower garden by night, and still have energy to play in the evening!

FRIENDS and EXTENDED FAMILY:
I am not sure how it happened, but I have a few people in my life that look to me for motivation. I don't want to let them down. I want to be able to help people, and in order to do that effectively, I need to live what I'm saying. If I don't buy the "product", I don't want to "sell" it.

VANITY: I'd be lying if I didn't say a big part was vanity. I love how I look when I'm working out. I love the way I feel when I'm in shape, and fitting into my clothes properly. It is a great feeling, it really is. So when I start to slip, and see/feel the results of that, I quickly self-adjust.


I confess... Some days, I really DON'T want to get out of bed... and some days I don't. But often... I push through. I don't like the way I feel when I've been inactive for too long. It makes me grumpy and irritable. On those days, when I don't want to get up... I look to MY sweetheart and to the community of beloved *kitten* kickers on here that I call my friends. THEY inspire M and they are not afraid to kick me in the *kitten* when I need it!


Finally, tell me a question that you wish I, a new comer on MFP, had asked you.

How does it feel to have the "perfect body"?

I don't know... I'll let you know if I ever feel like I get there.

I thought a lot about this question and posed it because I've had so many people tell me I have the kind of body they are striving for.

And yet, I'm still not totally happy with myself. I will always see flaws, I will always have cellulite I don't like, extra rolls from having babies, scars from mosquito bites...

I struggled with loving myself when I was overweight, and still do. Some days more than others.

When I'm my looking in the mirror, I often forget what I look like and still feel overweight.

So I am now learning love myself for me. Hitting goal weight was just the beginning for me... I have quite a way to go before I hit my mental weight.

My advice... Learn that you are complete as you are. That goal weight/goal body won't give you a sense of value you don't already believe you have

Start learning to love you for you, and find a way to enjoy the process of making your body reflect the inner awesome that you are.

And take it easy on yourself... You will make mistakes... It really is OK.