Hi!  This is my first blog, and I just want to start off by briefly talking about where I am in life and what I’m doing.

   I competed in the NPC throughout 2007, winning the Overall Figure Championship at the Emerald Cup and was one away from getting my pro card at every national show.  I decided to take 2008 off from competing as I needed to reevaluate my goals, and look at if this was even something I wanted to do anymore.  The love of competing was still there, but I definitely didn’t feel like the NPC/IFBB was the right fit for me.  

   At the end of the day, what I wanted  in terms of competition didn’t really matter.  In December of 2008 I began having problems with my heart.  It would start beating incredibly fast (200bpm) for no reason, and then I would have a sickening lurching sensation in my chest, which turned out to be my heart stopping for a second and restarting!   I would pass out and end up in the Emergency room over and over again. After months of various tests, I finally ended up having heart surgery a month ago.  They were unable to fix the arrythmia and the skipped beats, and I am taking a whole mess of beta blockers in order to try to mangae it for the time being.  The arrythmia I have is just something you are born with, but doesn’t manifest itself untill you get a little older.  On a happier note, I was FINALLY given the okay to head back to the gym last week! (more…)