Monika Banach

STATS:

Height: 5.9 inches

Weight: 155 lbs

Hometown:

Born and raised in Poland, and YES, I still have an accent. I have moved to the US about 13 yrs ago straight from Poland and have lived here ever since.

Personal Information:

I am a 29 year old Trauma RN. Currently attending graduate school getting my CRNA, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. I am a very energetic, optimistic, outgoing person and I never leave home without my smile :)

Things I love: GOD, my amazing family and friends, working out, bodybuilding, fitness, life, positive people, meeting new friends, traveling, learning new things, reading, movies, being in love, giving free smiles and hugs to people, being happy, food, taking pictures, foreign languages, very wide variety of MUSIC, beautiful beaches, the art of Medicine, anything with "POLSKA" on it :-)

What are your greatest fitness accomplishments so far?

Losing 30 lbs and feeling absolutely fabulous (see before and after photos).

What do you enjoy most about fitness?

The way it makes me feel....strong, sexy, energetic, fit, and happy - I JUST LOVE IT!

Working out is the only thing that keeps me sane during my crazy busy and demanding school schedule and work.

I got into weight training when I was 18, but haven’t really taken the next step with it until about 2 years ago. I went to see some of my friends compete in bodybuilding and figure and I got totally addicted to it.

What are your fitness goals?

I plan on entering my first figure competition in March 2009. I want to always be fit and healthy, get into fitness modeling, motivate and inspire others, and maintain nice toned figure without loosing my feminine curves :-)

I think it takes a lot of determination and dedication to challenge yourself to compete and actually go through with the whole process. Regardless how you place, you are a champion if you actually set this goal and succeed.

What motivates you to maintain a healthy lifestyle?

They way I look, the way my body feels, the overall happiness and confidence it gives me. Being able to inspire and motivate other women out there and proving to them that if I could do it, they could too. You are all beautiful, and you deserve to feel good about yourself. “A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step” so take that step today! YOU can do whatever you put your mind into.

Favorite 'diet' food:

Protein pancakes. 1 scoop ultra size vanilla protein, 4 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1/3 cup of dry oatmeal, 1 tbs of ground flaxseed. Topped with little bit of sugar free syrup, Molly McButter, cinnamon, and butter spray. I eat them everyday for breakfast, they are so delicious. I crave them all the time!

Your Sponsors : None right now, but would love a sponsor(s), so if anyone out there wants to sponsor me, I will pay off with hard work and dedication :)

I believe that your diet and proper nutrition is one of the most important factors of getting in shape. Often you will hear that nutrition is about 75-80% of what you look like, working out 10-15%, and genetics about 10%. This is so absolutely true.  Diet is the KEY!  There are people out there that eat junk all the time and look like they are in a great shape, but do not let them fool you.  It will catch up with them sooner or later.  Rather it will be gaining weight later in life or getting heart diseases, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc. it will catch up!  You can do all the cardio you want or lift weights all day long but if you do not supply your body with the proper nutrition/clean diet, you are simply wasting your time.

Eating clean can seem very difficult for a lot of people; many do not understand what it takes to eat clean.  They think it is some kind of mystery and it is too difficult to understand, so they just give up before they even start. Well, good news: eating clean is very simple.  If you want to lose weight, get in shape, put on muscle, you have to eat at least 5-6 meals per day, and you should not go longer than 3 hrs without eating.  If you only have 3 large meals per day, your metabolism slows down significantly, and you tend you eat more because you are so hungry by the time your next meal comes.  Each meal should include source of lean protein (chicken, fish, tofu, steak, whey protein, etc.), veggies (broccoli, asparagus, spinach, green leafy lettuce, cauliflower, etc.) and complex carbohydrates (brown rice, sweet potatoes, oat meal, whole grain bread, etc).  Good fats such as nuts, flaxseed, fish oil, olive oil should also be part of your daily intake.  Good fats are vital for your cellular functions and development, such as preventing inflammation, lubricating your joints, proper insulin functioning in your body, and several other important roles.  And last but not least, do not forget to drink lots of water.  I drink about a gallon of water a day.

Eating clean is simple.  Start today, read about it, educate yourself about things that you do not understand, do not just give up and say “it is too hard”.  It will be hard at the beginning to get used to eating clean, but when you start seeing the changes in your body, you will not want to go back to eating junk and feeling like a pile of junk.

Preparation is the key when it comes to eating clean.  I always prepare my foods for the week on Sunday.  I usually cook few chicken breasts, fresh veggies, rice or sweet potatoes and if I know it will be a very busy week for me, I even arrange individual meals in plastic containers so I can just grab them and throw them in my lunch box in the morning.  I always have my lunch box somewhere with me, in my car or at work.  We are inseparable.  This way, I never have to worry about what I am going to eat or if I will have enough time to run home and eat.  If you have it right there, you are less likely to grab junk when you are hungry.

Give up junk!  You will not miss it after you see how your body feels when you feed it quality foods.  When you get in a habit of eating clean and seeing the difference it does to your body, you will not want to cheat or eat junk.  Stay away from people that push junk food on you.  I know people that will offer me crap to eat, and when I politely refuse, they keep pushing it at me: “Come one, one little piece of chocolate won’t kill you”.  Why do people do that?  They feel guilty about eating crappy & they want you to eat crappy too, so they do not feel as bad about it.  Misery loves company. Do not let them make you feel guilty, be strong and say NO.  When you are eating clean, explain to your family and friends how important this is to you and how much you would appreciate if they respected that and helped you out during your progress.  You never know, you might inspire them too.  Remember, you only have one body, take good care of it.  Do this for YOU and not for others.

Patience is another important part when it comes to losing weight or getting in shape.  Everyone’s body reacts differently to changes; for some, it will take longer to see the results, and for others not as long.  Do not get discouraged when you do not see changes right away.  Stick with it and the changes will come.

When rough times come and I get discouraged, I remember one of my favorite quotes by Lance Armstrong and I remind myself that nothing worthwhile comes easily.  It takes hard work and dedication to get somewhere that is worth going:

"This is MY body. And I can do whatever I want to it. I can push it. Study it. Tweak it. Listen to it. Everybody wants to know what I'm on.
What am I on?
I'm on my bike busting my ass 3 hrs a day. 
What are YOU on?" – by Lance Armstrong.

Many of us have a guilt relationship with food cravings.  Sometimes they can become so strong that they completely take over our senses.  Food cravings can be responsible for certain nutrient deficiencies in our body, but not always.

•	You might be craving salty things like chips because you are low on sodium or potassium.

•	Chocolate cravings can be related to low magnesium, iron, and deficiency in B vitamins.

•	Craving carbohydrates can be related to depressed mood and deficiency of serotonin neurotransmitter that is found in our brain.  “In the central nervous system, serotonin plays an important role as a neurotransmitter in the modulation of anger, aggression, body temperature, mood, sleep, sexuality, appetite, and metabolism, as well as stimulating vomiting” (wikipedia.com).

•	Food cravings can be associated with a psychological connection to certain foods that make us feel better.   Like drinking alcohol is often related to being out with friends, having good time, or in my case watching my favorite TV shows and sipping on a glass of wine.  For a long time, this was a habit that I unconsciously formed.

•	Most of the times, cravings are in our head, we crave certain things to satisfy our emotional needs.  Most often, these comfort foods are usually loaded in calories, fat, carbohydrates, etc. I don’t really know anyone that craves carrots when they are feeling depresses or sad.

So what can we do to try to prevent these insane cravings?  Well, as Julie Lohre once told me “your body will do what your mind tells it to”.  Yes, you can control your cravings, because they are mostly in your head.  You have to become stronger than that inner voice that is telling you to have a piece of cheesecake.

Here are some helpful tips:

Separate yourself from the food/mood connection, change your routine.  If you are used to drinking wine while watching your favorite TV show, stop and substitute it with a cup of your favorite herbal tea, flavored water, or whatever else you like.  I had to actually do that; it took me about a month to break my wine-late night TV show habit.  Now, I don’t crave it anymore.  Same goes for stress, when we are stressed out, we tend to reach for those comfort foods.  Find something that you can substitute for when you are stressed out.  Keep yourself occupied, wait it out, go to the gym, distract your mind.

Figure out what triggers your emotional cravings and make a list of activates to divert your mind off of those cravings.  If you always crave sweets at night before you go to bed, read a book instead to take your mind off of food.  Sometimes just hitting the gym can get rid off cravings.  Exercise stimulates the release of endorphins, feel good chemicals in your brain, so after your workout, you are less likely to reach for junk.

Do not skip your meals even if you overeat during one of your daily meals.  Skipping meals will only put you in an emotional low, drop your blood sugar and make you crave bad foods ever more.  Also, drink lots of water during the day to keep your mouth occupied with something.

Keep your house clear from temptation foods.  I know this can be hard to do when you have kids, but eliminating unnecessary fat foods/temptation foods from your house will save you many midnight snack crazies.  If you don’t have cookies at home, you are probably not going to go to the store in the middle of the night just to buy cookies.

Have a support system like a friend or a family member that you can call when you are feeling down, or when you get your cravings.  I have a good friend of mine that is a personal trainer, and when I get my insane cravings, or feel lazy about going to the gym, I call him and tell him about it.  His positive energy and excitement about working out always persuades me to go to the gym.  I never regretted going to the gym even after a 12 hr day at work.  .

Supplements play an important role in preventing cravings.  Give your body enough essential nutrients, take multivitamins everyday.  I take multivitamins everyday in the morning and B vitamin complex before bed to give me energy for the next day. Here are few functions of B vitamins:  “Support and increase the rate of metabolism, maintain healthy skin and muscle tone, enhance immune and nervous system function, promote cell growth and division — including that of the red blood cells that help prevent anemia, reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer, one of the most lethal forms of cancer” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_vitamins). 
Omega 3 and Omega 6 essential fatty acids (EFA) that can be found in flaxseed, fish oil, nuts, fish also play several important functions in our bodies, including immune system support, joint lubrication, energy production in our cells, and many other.

When you continue to crave something so badly and none of the above distractions help, go ahead and have a small portion of it.  Treat it as your cheat meal.  Sometimes, this can be the only thing that will get rid of your cravings.  Don’t go crazy with it and instead of having few chips you end up eating the whole big bag.  You will probably regret it the next day because you will feel like sh**t.  Trust me, I have done it all!