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In this week's episode, Celeste Rains-Turk reintroduces Tamara Haddad, a previous guest from the beginning of her podcast who has since retired from the IFBB division. While she may be retired from competing, Tamara is still well-known for her excellent posing coaching and active in supporting other competitors. 

To Begin, Tamara opens up to Celeste about her last show, the Arnold Classic Australia, in 2017.  She admits to post-show months of rebounding, feeling depressed, and unmotivated. Tamara explains how her biggest struggle was learning how to balance fitness as a lifestyle instead of a competition.

She states it took approximately 9 months to get back into shape and how the slow and steady approach gave her the lifestyle shape she always dreamed of having. Tamara is thankful to have had the chance to compete at The Arnold and Olympia and uses her experiences to coach other competitors to these elite stages. 
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Tamara explains how the hardest part about overcoming post-competing blues is the mental changes and lifestyle adaptations.

Tamara tells Celeste how she used to believe you couldn’t take rest days, and now realizes that taking rest days allows for muscles to heal, bones to repair, and mind recovery. Tamara no longer has food guilt and chooses to eat three fuller meals instead of five portion-controlled meals. 

Tamara and Celeste discuss the heavy and often disregarded topic of addiction in the bodybuilding sport. Tamara admits she was addicted to competing, Adderall, Xanax, and relationships which reared its ugly head after retiring.

Tamara decided to cleanse her body, mind, and soul and admits to having a predisposition to extreme addictive characteristics. She started her recovery by doing a 90-day commitment, sun healing, and focusing on spiritual growth.

​While Tamara was afraid of her true self without the title of IFBB pro champion, she worked with God to release those stigmas. Tamara happily expresses she is now three months clean of prescription substances!

Tamara states how online competitions is “the future of bodybuilding”. She praises the division for transforming to an online stage and is pleasantly surprised how successful the first one was in July. In the future, she is hoping the Top 10 gets more prize money to help boost audience participation and reimburse competitors for their hard work. 

Finally, Tamara gives viewers advice to competitors who feel addicted to the identity of the sport. Tamara’s honesty and open conversations provide an episode you do not want to miss!

Connect with Tamara Here:
www.instagram.com/tamarahaddad7/

Connect with Celeste Here:
www.instagram.com/celestial_fit/

TIME STAMPS:
[3:24] Life and Goals after retiring from the IFBB division
[8:52] Learning to step away from the extremes of competing
[16:56] Tamara’s spirituality, addiction to prescription drugs, and healing. 
[23:24] Staying abstinent/avoiding masturbation/raising your vibrations
[35:21] Tamara discusses her opinion on online competitions
[46:56 ] Advice to competitors who feel addicted to the sport