IN MY SHOES: What It Takes To Be A Female Bodybuilder
The Associated Press profiles professional bodybuilder Tennille Ray:
Ray is a professional bodybuilder in the figure division - which means she has eye-popping muscles but is still expected to be curvy and feminine. …
Last spring, she signed up for a retreat held by a pro bodybuilder that taught some diet and exercise basics. But Ray had to refine her strategy as she went along.
The transformation was difficult. It took her about four months of intense, two-hour workouts and a serious amount of dietary restraint. Bodybuilders eat constantly, but it's a very specific formula, heavy on protein and vegetables and light on sodium and fats, Ray said. She was often cranky and exhausted. She turned down dinner invitations with friends because it would be hard finding something that fit her diet. Giving up cheese was particularly tough. …
Slowly she noticed her body changing, becoming more sculpted, and her energy returning. Her hard work paid off: She won her amateur debut in September 2008 and turned pro.
''Tennille came in and kicked butt right off the bat,'' said Charlie Carollo, vice president of the WNBF. ''She's really disciplined, but she's also got God-given genetics that really help her out.''
Ray, who won't tell her age, works out regularly and brings food everywhere she goes, munching on salad with mushrooms, broccoli and fresh fish during a recent interview. She says she relies mostly on fresh vegetables and natural nutritional supplements.
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