A Day In The Life of Hot Body Winner Aluschka

· She inspires others to improve their fitness
· She motivates others to stick to their plan
· She leads people to achieve personal bests
· She helps others achieve their potential

Alena is indeed a classic case of leading by example. She is a role model for anyone wanting to achieve optimal health and body composition while trying to balance in life. And let’s face it, she is super fit. So, after my interview with her I actually did something new. That’s right, I broke out the yoga DVD and got to work (you’ll see what I mean).

So check out Alena’s story. It’s people like her that we can really learn from. As JB always says, if you want to get into great shape, the surest way is to find someone who’s accomplished what you want to accomplish, and do what they do. And I guarantee that if you do what Alena does, you’ll look better, feel better, and perform better!

How/why/when did you get into the healthy lifestyle thing?
Ever since I can remember I was physically active. I was brought up by a health conscious family where all the food was prepared from the scratch from fresh ingredients. My dear grandmother is still an absolutely amazing cook. I recently celebrated her 85th birthday with the rest of the family and she prepared an incredible feast all by herself, refusing any help!

I was infected with jaundice when I was 13 (the entire town went down after contaminated dairy products were imported from Poland). I spent about 6 weeks in the hospital and then 4 months in home care. I spent the whole year on a brutal diet (it was completely tasteless). Hundreds of blood tests and shots of vitamins were necessary to heal my liver. After a year I was advised not to eat any fried or fat loaded meals, ingest alcohol, or overeat. Basically I was told to live a simple lifestyle and keep eating as natural as possible, emphasizing fruits, vegetables, complex carbohydrates and lean proteins. While I have had my moments of sub-optimal eating and trying whacked/restrictive diets, I would always come back to these principles.

JB’s PN simply reinforced what was already deep inside me, that you can be healthy and lean with balanced eating and you do not have to go on ultra restrictive diets. Well, unless you want to win the Olympia of courseJ.

What are your 3 keys to success?
1. A positive and kind attitude (thinking, talking and acting)
The human mind is a powerful tool. If you have a positive and kind outlook on the world and believe you can achieve whatever you set your mind to, you will make it very far. Also, if you treat others the way you want to be treated you’re half-way there.

2. Consistency
Staying consistent with health promoting food, supplements and a variety of physical activities.

3. Balanced body/mind approach towards life
We are integral beings and need to treat the body and mind equally. A strong body with a weak mind is incomplete. So is a powerful mind in a weak body.

What are your 3 favourite forms of exercise?
1. Beach Volleyball
It gives me freedom of expression. It’s a very demanding and dynamic sport that requires high amounts of physical and mental effort. You have to make the correct decision in a split second while you are in an awkward and unstable position. Since there are only 2 playing at a time (instead of 6 with indoor), the players must have a combination of all volleyball skills (e.g., serving, passing, blocking, setting, hitting and defending). Plus, you get to play on the beach with heaps of bronzed hot looking bodies around you in skimpy outfits!!

2. Yoga
Yoga is fantastic for calming the mind and helping with those tight muscles and achy joints. It can help to correct the imbalances we gather during our life journey. In yoga practice I have been pushed beyond what I thought were my physical and mental capabilities. Yoga practice requires patience and dedication. Physical progress is often measured in millimetres over a long period of time (months or even years), so if you have no patience you will be very frustrated. I spent my first year of yoga in tears. I was a national volleyball player and national open bodybuilding champion who was stiff as a plank and could not even do simple bodyweight poses. I was the strongest looking person in classes and workshops yet I was the weakest. Yoga simply kicked my butt. It still does, but now I really enjoy it and let it teach me instead of constantly fighting it.

3. Strength training/Cardio
I have been in love with both for very long time. At one point it was bordering on insane obsession. I own my physique to years spent in the gym and moving some mean weights and busting my butt with cardio workouts. These days it is more about maintaining. I have the size, so I do not train with weights as much. But remember, I do work with my bodyweight in yoga everyday. When I do train with weights it is high intensity, moderately heavy, not much rest in between sets, lots of circuit or super-setting techniques. I do a fair amount of outdoor cardiovascular work (running/biking/walking).

What are your 3 favourite foods?
Oh my gosh! What kind of question is that for a food gourmet!! This is nearly impossible for me to answer. Hmmm. I do not have a favourite dish; I simply enjoy any healthy food prepared with love. I do not follow recipes; I just whip the meals as I go. I love protein and fats.

Some favourites:
· Red meat comes first (I am definitely a carnivore)
· Fruit, especially exotic ones
· Kumara (New Zealand sweet potato)
· Any pumpkin, squash, etc
· I absolutely love all vegetables, can’t live without them (except one, celery, I just can’t open my heart or my taste buds to this one)
· And what kind of girl would I be if I did not say ANYTHING THAT HAS CHOCOLATE!! This includes cappuccino of course.

How much sleep do you usually get?
8.5 hours (from time to time I will sleep in and get 11 hours or more).

What is a typical day like for you?
Not a single day is “typical” in my life. It depends if my beach volleyball season is on. Is it winter, spring, summer? What project are we doing?

But the following would probably describe my day the best. I get up anywhere from 7am to 9am. It depends on what time I get to bed.

*Get up naturally no alarm.
*Hygiene
*Cook my meal 1 and eat it
*Make green smoothie for my partner
*Work and check PN/update my log
*Cook meal 1 for my partner (drop it off at office) and sort out my post workout meal
*Workout: Either at the gym or outdoor
*Post workout meal
*Errands in town (shopping, etc)
*Cook meal 2 for me and my partner (drop it off at office)
*Work
*Cook meal 3 for me and my partner (drop it off at office)
*Beach volleyball training if weather permits 1-1.5 hours, otherwise work
*Cook meal 4 for me and my partner (drop it at office)
*Tidy up the house, sort stuff for next day
*Cook meal 5 for me and my partner. Eat it at home
*Both of us go for a walk in the forest (20-45 minutes depends on what we feel like)
*Stop at Café if times allow and have either coffee or herbal tea, chill a bit, soak up the ambience, and recharge the energy
*Gym if my partner feels like it (I will usually do whatever I did not do in the morning, so if I did weights I will do cardio and other way around, basically a bonus for me)
*Yoga at home 6 x per week (60-90 minutes). Once per week on Tuesday night we go to class from 19:30-21:00 (7:30pm–9:00pm). And we go every Thursday morning to class from 10:00-11:30am.
*Cook last meal for both of us
*Work/Check PN
*Hygiene
*Finally Bedtime!!!

Complete the following
My favourite supplement is….
Once again too hard for me to single out one product just as with food. In no particular order:

1) Organic Green Food (Spirulina, Wheat Grass, Barley Grass, Chlorella)

2) Organic Raw Kefir (Coconut, Goat, Cow)

3) Vitamin C

4) Fish Oil

5) Whey Protein

Precision Nutrition is…..
Frigging Awesome!! Do not overcomplicate it! JB and rest of the gang did all the hard brainy parts. You just have to follow it!!

My biggest struggle with managing my body fat percentage is…..
Genetically modified European “stocky endomorphic” genes and dealing with my female hormones J. Okay, genetics aside…

I must not disrespect:
1) 10 habits
2) Portion control
3) Nutrient timing
4) My individual plan
(I have a few minor health challenges that do trip me from time to time, but I am working on it)

I usually shop for my food at…..
Organic stores/Farmers Markets and supermarkets that provide organic/hormone free products.

I usually do my exercise at…..
Yoga studio, gym, home, beach or forest.