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it’s pretty obvious that bodybuilding andall its iterations, like bikini competing, fitness modeling, physique, figure, and thelike, are all about how you look. and something that’s surprisingly rarely discussed, especiallyless than steroid and substance use, is the affect such competition can have on one’sbody image and mental health. today pro bikini competitor samantha shorkey gives us a peakbehind the curtain and shares why bodybuilding isn’t for everyone. hi it’s emily from bite size vegan and welcometo another vegan nugget. samantha shorkey is a true spitfire of a woman who lays all ofher cards on the table, something i greatly admire in a person. if you missed my firstinterview with samantha, be sure to check

it out to hear how she found her way to beinga pro vegan bikini competitor. she’s a two-time winning vegan bikini athlete,certified personal trainer, the first-ever vegan wnbf bikini pro and author of “jackedon the beanstalk: plant-based fuel for vegan athletes,” and is also a member of the plantbuiltvegan muscle team. and built she certainly is. but samantha herself will tell you, that she's not competition ready all year round. as i said, the thing that i love about samanthathe most is her brutal honesty. let’s here from her on what can be the darker side ofcompetitive bodybuilding. well, thank you so much samantha fortaking time out of your busy schedule to be here on the channel and share your experiencewith the viewers.

thanks for having me. so, as a professional and now a bikinicompetitor, obviously what you do is very focused on your physical body and how youlook, and how you appear. with that and with the entire bodybuilding industry, can youtalk a little bit about body image within that as a whole, but also for your personalexperience as a female kind of competing in a way that’s a very public display of yourbody? it’s funny because before i evergot into competing, i used to always think that i was pretty fit. i’d look in the mirrorand say ‘yeah, i look great. i’m in shape. genetically i think i got a pretty good littlepackage going on here’. and then you get

into competing, and you’re judged on sucha subjective level that...i did one show. i did provincial championships in vancouverand the judges told me ‘your thighs are too thick. your legs are too big’. you kindof can’t help but let that get to you because i never in a million years thought that ihad big legs. and now even to this day i’m always thinking ‘oh, are my thighs too big?are my thighs too thick?’. and you really have to be a confident enough person in yourselfto say ‘that’s just the opinion of 4 or 5 random strangers who don’t know a thingabout me and just because they think that this girl looked better than me on stage doesn’tmean that i’m not just as beautiful or beautiful in a million other ways’. and it’s sadbecause i do know many women who compete and

they...instead of something like this empoweringthem, it just puts their self-esteem down the toilet. and they do these shows year afteryear after year just wanting to feel pretty, and wanting to feel good, and healthy. andthey do awful things to their body in order to sculpt themselves into what they thinkthese random judges want them to be, and it’s really sad. i’ve had several girls cometo me for training and they said ‘i’m former eating disorder victim’, and immediatelyi say ‘this is not the sport for you and i do not feel comfortable taking you as aclient. i’m telling you right now if you have body image issues going into this,you’re going to come out far worse than you went in so save yourself the torture’.yeah, it’s definitely something that women

and even men, i know men who have developedthese issues as well. guys who’ve gone competing at the same time as me and now here they are,if they’re not doing a ton of steroids everyday, they’re thinking ‘oh, i’m so small.i’m so small and never big enough’. you know, there’s a funny saying that, um...whatis it? ‘the day you start bodybuilding is the day you’re never big enough’. youknow, and that’s how guys think of it, and for women it’s ‘the day you start competingis the day you’re never lean enough’. and i often say that ‘this is a contestof who tortures themselves the most. who starves themselves the most’. it’s just a lotof things you need to be aware of and you need to separate yourself from that lifestyle.once the show ends it’s very important to

give yourself a few weeks or a few monthsto be a normal person and reconnect with the loved ones in your life, and seek supportif you need to because there’s a whole world out there outside of competing, and sadlytoo many people get wrapped in this being their entire life, and ruin their lives becauseof it. i mean, with all of that pressure andjust the intensity that you’re describing, it just makes me wonder why do you keep doingit? i mean, what is it that draws you to continue this kind of competition with all of that...allthe pressure i suppose? ah well for me personally, and maybethis sounds a bit egotistical, but i guess i’m a bit of an exhibistionist. and i alwayssay i’m an egomaniac, and for me i just,

i love being up on stage practically naked,strutting my stuff. and i swear part of the reason i always do so well is because i portraythat confidence. so, yeah you know...’you know you want this’, and that’s kind ofthe mentality that i have about it, and to be honest this is my last year of competing.i said that last year was going to be my last one, and then i ended winning my procards.yeah, it is something that i would never want to do long term but i know how to have theright mindset about it. you know, i can compete and if i don’t win i can be a normal personagain after that. and i like myself whether i’m thick, thin, jacked, scrawny, it doesn’tmatter. i’m a pretty confident person and i think it’s so important if you do do thisfor the long term, to have that confidence.

i really appreciate your candor andthat’s something that i’ve seen on your blog ‘jacked and the beanstalk’, likeyou don’t really hide anything of your experience with bodybuilding. and i think that’s pretty...that’spretty valuable for people to see because i think the industry sometime can be so muchabout image that people don’t really let you see what goes on to create that image.but you kind of put it all out there and that’s very refreshing. well, and it’s funny. i alwaysjoke about the vegan farts and i wrote a whole blog post about when you’re a vegan bodybuilder,you’re eating a high protein, high fiber diet, and i talked about farting non stop.and peeing into a pee cup so that i don’t get pee splashes on my spray tan. and you know,just addressing all of these topics that regular

bikini competitors would never mention. idefinitely heard a lot of people say ‘eww, you’re gross, and guys must think you’rehideous!’ well you know what, i’m real and i would hope to be relatable in that girlswould appreciate that more than me pretending ‘oh, i don’t fart’. i think it’s really important to,especially with the topic of body image that we were discussing because, women can lookat you on stage and say ‘oh, i can...that she must just...workout...’ or think that’sa natural way to be, but when you kind of put out this is the stuff that i’m doingto get to this point, and i’m peeing in a cup, and i’m doing this and this. i thinkthat’s helpful because it shows what it takes to attain that, and makes it less...iguess women feel less like ‘oh, i should

be able to do that if i go to the gym everydayand have really good self will or something’. it’s funny that you mention thatbecause i do get women all the time saying ‘how come you have a 6-pack and i eat healthy,and i exercise’. what people don’t realize is that there’s a lot of smoke and mirrorsgoing on to get to that day. you’re training for one particular day so you’re doing thingslike cutting water. i don’t drink water for 2 days leading up to a show. i’m takingdandelion root which is a natural diuretic to help get rid of the water retention andsuck the skin to my muscles so i look really shredded. so there’s so many things. thespray tan makes you look more and more jacked than you are and you’re oiled up. you know,i wish i looked like that on a daily basis

but to be honest, it’s not even healthyor attainable to look like that. so, i’m always...i always want people to know that...thatin the off season, i’m 15-20 pounds sometimes bigger than i am when you see me on stage.you know, it’s important for girls and everyone to know that. thank you again so much for your time.i really appreciate it, especially with you getting, preparing for your first pro competition.i know that you’re very busy so i very much appreciate it. awesome! thanks for having me. i hope you enjoyed hearing from samantha onthis issue. to get connected with her and hear all the nitty-gritty details of hertraining, eating, and other activities, check out her blog jackedonthebeanstalk.com whereyou can also grab her ebook, follow her on social

media, which those links are also below, and inquireabout doing online coaching with her whether for competitions or just getting into shape. and as samantha said, if you’re wantingto get into competing, it’s important to go in with your eyes totally open to whatit requires. now, i’d love to hear your thoughts on this. what do you think of the body imageand self-esteem challenges inherent in appearance-based competing? it is something you think you’dbe up for? let me know your thoughts in the comments! if you enjoyed this look into the underbelly,or perhaps undersixpack? of bodybuilding, give the video a big thumbs up and share itaround to help others who may be considering such a calling. if you're new here, do hit thatbig red subscribe button down there for more

awesome vegan content every monday, wednesday,and some fridays and to not miss out the on the rest of the vegan athlete series. if youwant to help support bite size vegan, check out either of the support links in the videodescription below or click on the nugget army icon or the link in the sidebar. now go livevegan, rock your vegan body with confidence, and i’ll see you soon. let's take a look at a select few of the myriadof reasons to go vegan and see just what impact your personal appearance has upon them. so let's see just how animals are affectedby body image. "what do you think of this pooch on my stomachthat i can grab?"

[crickets] and now the environmental impact of body image. "do you think that my thighs are too big?" [birds chirping] subtitles by the amara.org community