Q: What is your athletic background?

A: It all started twelve years ago in my hometown of Charlotte, NC. I used my allowance money, since I was only 15, and walked a mile after school to workout at Ricky Steamboat’s Gym. I think I was too young to workout alone, but boy was I determined. I was amongst all men and hardcore lifters. That made it much more enjoyable. Since then, I have competed in three regional fitness competitions and three National Fitness America Pageants. After securing a contract with Twinlab, as a spokesmodel and traveling to all the big events for years, I decided it was time to take a break from “Kathy” and start helping other people to realize their own potential. I am currently in production of my stability ball training video called “Every Body Ball Exercise” (thanks in part to George Mauory with Dynamic Sports Performance for his innovative techniques). I just got a publisher for my book “The Raw Crunch Diet”, and it is on its way to the printer. There is such a tremendous amount of diet information and mis-information out there these days, no wonder we feel so overwhelmed and conflicted when it comes to food. I have degree in Cellular Biology and I don’t know about you, but those long complex and contradictory diet books loose my interest real quick. “The Raw Crunch Diet” only provides the Raw Facts and lifestyle changes you can actually live with.

Q: What is a typical workout routine?

A: I do a lot of stability ball training, yoga, some cardio, and heavy upper body weights. I only train about five days a week. No need to overdo it, otherwise I just retain fluid while my body is healing. My legs, like most women, respond very well to weights, so I just rely on cardio to keep them lean, any more than that and I loose symmetry. Yoga is amazing for stretching and lengthening my body, plus it oxygenates my cells and cleanses my tissues. My mom is the best medical massage therapist in Charlotte, how lucky am I? I never could have made it through my grueling fitness competitions without her. Now she just helps relieve all of my tight muscles and expels any accumulation of fluid from training. She literally takes inches off my waste in an hour of neuromuscular massage, plus I feel absolutely incredible.

Q: What body part are you most proud of?

A: My abs, it took twelve solid years of training and finally getting my nutrition right to see these suckers. Nutrition is 80% of the ripped abs equation. And by the way, a six-pack does not equal a six-pack, but whatever helps you sleep at night sweetie. As dieters get smarter, so do the marketers.

Q: What is your greatest motivation?

A: My string bikini.

Q: You are currently involved in a new health and fitness venture, tell us about it.

A: I feel that one of the main problems with obesity in this country is that Americans are just NUTRITIONALLY STARVED. Eating more does not necessarily mean getting more nutrients. Believe it or not, overweight people are generally malnourished. After consuming a typical meal or snack your stomach feels full while your physiology craves nutrients. You see, chances are that meal was processed and drastically altered from its natural state. To further reduce the nutrient value, most processed foods are cooked. When foods are overcooked, much of their vitamins and minerals are damaged or destroyed by heat. To make up for this, food manufacturers add nutrients back into the food in the form of synthetic vitamins and minerals. I’m sure you’ve seen the long list of non-natural, impossible to pronounce ingredients on the typical packaged food. This is why my husband and I began making our own nutritious whole food snack called “Raw Crunch®” bars. As athletes ourselves, we understand the value of a clean burning fuel for prolonged workouts as well as a satisfying snack at the office. They not only taste incredible (yeah, I’m a bit biased), but they are truly nutritionally satisfying. We formulated “Raw Crunch®” bars with the most nutrient dense quality ingredients. We would nevercompromise our own health and we will never compromise our product, regardless of how many bars we produce.

Q: What is your healthy eating regimen?

A: Lots and lots of raw, organic fruits & veggies, my “Raw Crunch®” bars, some wild salmon and lots of whole, natural nutrient dense foods. The hardest part for people to grasp is that you have to add heart healthy essential fats to your diet if you want to lean up. These essential fats also help lubricate the joints, digestive tract and especially the skin. Essential means that your body cannot produce it on its own and it must be supplied in you diet.

Q: Any advice for our readers?

A: Promise me you’ll stay away from diet pills and devoid-of-life energy pills. Been there, done that, got a tee shirt. These pills speed up your heart rate and give you energy highs and lows. Your heart is the only muscle that never gets a chance to rest. Plus, nothing you do to control your weight is more important than keeping your liver healthy. The main function of the liver is to filter toxins, so diet pills tax the liver since they are full of chemicals your body tries to reject. This distracts your liver from performing its second function of metabolizing fats and sugars. The minute you stop taking the diet pills, you pack the pounds right back on, and then some. No one wants a sluggish liver. Rather than wearing your body down with synthetic stimulants and toxic substances, follow a nutrition plan that fully nourishes your body from the inside out. It shows, believe me.

For more training and nutrition info,
please visit www.rawcrunch.com
Photos by www.michaelchurch.com

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