Dear Mattel - thanks for trying

Just finished watching the one womens match on RAW tonight, and can't help but wonder if the Divas get disappointed with the amount of time they're given and what the end result is. They couldn't have been in the ring for more than 5 minutes, and the stronger opponents were quickly defeated in a battle royale, getting tossed out of the ring by the girls who look like they care more about their nails than wrestling. I'm looking forward to TNA on Thursday to see if it offers a better venue for the women to fight in. As for tonight, once again WWE pushed forward the storyline with two twins "The Bella" twins who pull a switcheroo at the end of every match, defeating a much better wrestler, because they wear the same outfit and save one another from losing. Boring.

I started following some of the Divas on twitter and was excited for tonight because many of my favorites, who are very athletic, and obviously work out regularly to build their physique and wrestling skills, were boasting about how they were going to bring it tonight. Well not so much. And I can't blame them, I know that. They play the hand their dealt, because ultimately they play in a man's world.

I saw a poll today from the WWE where it asked fans which new action figure they were most excited about seeing. There was one female listed there (surprisingly enough) and she fell all the way to the bottom of the results with 4% of  the votes.

A man's world - even when we're dolls.

Dear cameraman

I forgot I had to mention one thing from Smackdown the other night. Kelly Kelly's entrance into the match was hilarious. Because she stepped and stood right in front of Edge as he tried to do his "I'm cool with my fireworks" pose. If the camera guy would've shot it a little more to the side, it probably wouldn't have looked like Kelly was trying to steal Edge's thunder - but that's was it looked like, and I loved it. This shot of it isn't as bad, but on tv it looked worse, haha. I love my girls.

Dear pizza delivery man - no thanks

Busy day today, so I wanted to come up with a quick and healthy meal for tonight. Decided on homemade pizza. I found some garlic Indian paan bread at Target oddly enough, so I bought that, and put some olive oil, sliced roma tomatoes, baby spinach, and low fat mozzarella on it, with some pepper and red pepper flakes. Baked it at 375 for about ten minutes. Delicious. So I figure even when I'm craving pizza, I can still eat it - just a non-greasy, non-fattening version.

Off for some more butt exercises. I really need to work on that area.

Dear Mom and Dad and the Reese's cups you left on my counter

This week began my getting my body used to exercising. I did butt exercises, courtesy of Natalia's workout tips on her site. And yes they were listed as BUTT exercises. Did dumbbell squats, (granted, the weights I have are only 3 pounds, but I haven't gotten to the sports store to get heavier ones yet) a butt bridge, and I attempted tuck jumps, but am not at that level yet, they are ridiculous! So all day yesterday my legs were killing me - not so much my butt - maybe your butt doesn't have the capacity to hurt that much? Not sure.

Healthy eating is going really well. Although my parents showed up at my house with an arm full of junk food two days ago and even though I explained my mission, they didn't care, or even seem to pay attention as I spoke. They left the food, and my father made a comment about the picture of Natalia Muntean after I showed him what I was aiming for. He of course said it was gross. Refer back to my last blog about men with beer guts for why I think he had that reaction. So I've started giving away the junk food - fished out the granola bars that were the only healthy thing in the whole lot, and continued on my way. They wont stop me, and neither will the Reese's cups.

Today's dinner - vegetable curry and rice. Being vegetarian makes it a lot easier to stick to healthy meal plans. I also weighed myself finally, and am 111 pounds. I'm probably about 5'2 - 5'3. Just wanted to get an idea of where I was starting. I hope to see that number go up with the muscle I *fingers crossed* gain.

This afternoon's workout also comes from Natalia's site. A whole body work out that includes things like deep squats, dead lifts and lunges. It feels good to have things to work on. Now when I can do push ups that aren't the "girl" version that all of us weaklings were offered to do as an alternative in gym class, I'll be thrilled. Get them knees off the ground ladies!

Dear Natalia - goddamn!

Today I took a step to get my blog out there, by going through some other blogs and forums that had to do with female fitness, figure and women wrestling. During my search I came across photos of Natalia Muntean, a leading woman in female fitness today, seen here in the photo to the left, and was amazed at how beautifully sculpted her body was. I wonder how many men out there would look at this same photo and think something negative out of old traditional views that men have about how a woman "should" look - or more likely - out of embarrassment that their own bodies will probably never compare because of all the beer in their guts.

It's women like this that really give me motivation to go for it. Her blog/website carries great workout and eating tips, for anyone else interested: www.NataliaMuntean.com

I'll be there now, to start learning how the hell she keeps this up!

Dear recycled Trish Stratus

This week marks the start of healthier eating habits, which meant tonight for watching RAW, I was not allowed chips, brownies or anything covered in icing. My fiance, supporting my mission to obtain a stronger physique, came home with Kashi GOLEAN bars, specifically for our wrestling watching tonight. They were actually really good and full of protein and fiber, which gave a nice full feeling. Plus chocolate and peanut butter flavors being involved makes anything taste good. *Note to Kashi GOLEAN bar eaters - have a glass of almond milk on stand by (or whatever milk you drink. I happen to drink Almond Breeze - Unsweetened Vanilla, so of course will recommend).

I was excited to learn that Trish Stratus returned to the WWE scene last night, to reveal she will be used in a new capacity, as one of the trainer's on the new Tough Enough season. Very much looking forward to that, since she was such an amazing example of what the women's wrestling genre can produce. Since she's been out of action, I found out that she opened up a yoga studio in Canada. Guess who is also a fan of yoga, and has a little yoga section set up in my work out area? Yep, that's right, moi. Oh, and she also dyed her hair brown - but that part is less important.

Dear photographer - please go fuck yourself

Today I assisted on a photo shoot as a lighting girl. The studio was in a big warehouse mostly used by musicians to play their shitty music. The model was a young Asian girl who originally told the photographer she wanted a Suicide Girl-esque theme for her photos. Lies.

She came in a strapless, prissy dress that could barely stand up on her very slender frame. And she posed like a modest mouse afraid of stepping on a trap. There was no strength there, no seduction. It's moments like this it seems, where I'm being reminded of how my taste in beauty is changing.

Let me say here, that I've tried posing for photos and I am a horrible model. The worst. Mostly in terms of direction, and mostly because I think I'm right and the photographer is wrong. So anyone who can get in front of a camera and a stranger and take direction well, I really do applaud. I'm not knocking models. I'm knocking the preconceived notion that we're all brought up to believe that beautiful women can only be these little sprites floating around in strapless dresses.

But I digress, and bring you my own before photos, as I promised. Me as I am now, probably as weak and lazy as can be. Good starting point I think.

Dear Maryse - please don't run

I wish the world wasn't filled with things like long work hours and Krispy Kreme donuts. While I managed to avoid the donuts today, the work hours were unavoidable. And so I was only able to come home in time to watch Smackdown.Of course not a lot of women's action, beyond a quick tag team match between Beth Phoenix and Eve and Maryse and Layla. While the latter team is quite laughable in the ring, often screaming or running from their opponent, I enjoy seeing Eve progress and Beth remain a strong force to be reckoned with. I think her arms are larger than my head.

I had planned on getting my before photo taken and ready for upload today. Tomorrow is my promise. Plus if I eat the donuts, it will look even better. If anyone is going to be offended by me in my bra and underwear, then don't tune in tomorrow. I'm going to put up the photo for all to see what I'm starting with, and to remind those with short attention spans, that a strong woman's wrestler-like body is what I hope to end with. This is the purpose of my blog, this ode to the amazons, message to the divas, and general log to myself. Oh, and if anyone suggests following the TNA Knockouts, let me know. I'm not too familiar with them. But willing to give them a chance - unless they try to run out of the ring too. I've had enough of that.

Dear Beauty and the Brawn

So here goes. The beginning of my love letter to you, you beautiful women who aren't afraid to look the part of a fighter. I grew up watching Xena, then moved onto Buffy. And as most young girls who idolized such strong, evil fighting females, I wondered if I would be able to be as ass kicking. So Buffy was a bit of a stretch, I'll admit. A tiny, blonde hero with virtually no muscle mass was able to take down the largest of foes. But shows like these intrigued me. And then I discovered female wrestlers.

At first, I saw a lot of women's storylines revolving around the men. I'd see the girls accompanying them to the ring, acting as arm candy. I'd waft in and out of the shows through the years, until I started catching women's matches. Real matches where they demonstrated they could pull off feats of athleticism and strength just as the men could. Women like Sable, Ivory, Lita, Trish Stratus, all these hot female wrestlers, with muscle to boot. Not afraid of "looking like the men" as many women seem to be afraid of when getting into shape. I don't think they looked like men at all. I was jealous that I had these skinny little arms, barely able to open a pickle jar!

So I guess as of late, as I really started watching these athletes - and that's what I consider them, athletes (yes, the matches are predetermined, and yes the industry can be very degrading and unfair in certain circumstances, and sometimes more models get through than wrestlers, but these women still put their necks out on the line to do what they do) - I started to really get interested and motivated to look the way they look.

I'm not saying I'm going to be the next WWE Diva, even though that would probably be an amazing ride, I'm just saying I'd like to get into the kind of shape that would enable me to lay someone out if need be.

So my challenge is to break free from this mold of the twiggy, in need of rescuing Rapunzel. I think this will be a good way to mark progress, and pay homage at the same time to you women who have the beauty and the brawn.