It was a crazy commitment at the time, especially during peak week, but it proved to me what I am capable of. The pressure of the work helped me recognize that I was tapping into a potential I didn't know I had - because potential is not a measurable thing. The KEY is learning to get outside of, and away from, things that make you comfortable - things that don't challenge you (especially if you start to feel complacent). 

We are capable of change. We have the power of choice. The rewards are greatest in the struggle, the hard, the relentless repetition, and that is when our diamonds... our true character... begin to shine!

Boy howdy did they shine when I brought my "Disco Ball" figure suit to contend in the Open and Masters FitBody divisions in 2022 and walk away with 1st place in Masters FitBody. 

Sharing the stage with other like-minded athletes is an immense pleasure and something I treasure in each competition experience. I also enjoy giving each suit I create a special name that reflects the uniqueness infused into them during the design process.

Let me pause here for an honest reality check. Two elements that may not be understood by those not closest to me: apart from hiring a posing coach, I am a 100% natural, an entirely self-trained athlete through my skills as a personal trainer and the guidance and support of my husband. The other being that 2021 and 2022 were some of the hardest years of my life. I had to rely heavily upon the training and nutrition disciplines I had been developing to carry me through, which became the best form of self-help and mental health therapy I could have had. 'Discipline prevails when motivation fails', I think is how the saying goes.

Our family endured two deeply painful losses, my 95-year-old Tutu, and suddenly, eight months later, my beloved father, Cliff, only 76 - a brilliant man with the gentlest of souls. Keeping my mother alive, who suffered a serious heart attack the day he died, co-managing all estate affairs, and recovering from my own serious health consequences due to these hardships was the current of our daily lives. 

These competitions gave me goals to focus on which provided the outlet to process my grief and the deep-seated reasons to keep taking care of myself - our health is all we've got.

Throughout these competitions, I learned another valuable lesson in my journey of self-discovery, perseverance, and resiliency. Do my own damn makeup!

The first makeup artist I hired to do my stage makeup as a godsend. Chelsea, at Lavish Bronze Boutique, tutored me in how to blend pigmented foundations with a spray tan. Since I rarely wear heavy makeup or foundation due to allergies, she ensured that I would not react to the products she provided. Working with her helped me recognize that, like making suits, I already possessed the talent to control my look, I just needed to take that step of faith and trust my instincts. 

By that time, however, I was already booked for an out-of-state makeup session for my 2nd competition. When the session ended with me having coached the artist entirely through the blending process, I never hired anyone else ever again. (In truth, she openly admitted she had never blended a spray tan before.) Yep. I've got this. I already do everything else for myself... plus, I just feel more ME!

 ... and Yes, that is a Boston Cream Pie backstage (homemade, gluten-free, dairy-free, and epically delicious). It's either that or Bavarian Cream Donuts. My go-to carbs to get that pump on - with whatever creative means are necessary as weights and equipment are a rarity backstage!

At my first competition, I earned the nickname "Viking Warrior Princess" for my shaved sides, braids, and updos, which I prefer for my stage look. 

I've been told I have a unique look... that there's "something special" about me. 

I think it's cause my name is Effie.

When I began competing and earned that Pro card the excitement came with a different type of reality check I don't believe most athletes have to factor in - the invitation and warning from my husband, Dirk, to 'enjoy this as long as your body can handle it'. 

He knows me better than anyone, always offers kind, compassionate advice, and will be the first to admit that even he doesn't know all the magic I'm capable of. (I think it's pretty cool that after 2 decades sharing life together we can still frequently shock and delightfully surprise each other with a new talent or skill, or depth we're both still tapping into, together.) He's a magnificent human being - my soul mate, swole mate, best friend, hardest worker, biggest fan, fastest chef in the west, sage leader, partner-in-design, devoted love, and my sexy MacGyver. 

What he was speaking was truth though, and I knew it. I've told others, 'Just because someone "looks good” does not mean they have optimal health.' Age is not reflective of the severity of health issues that can befall an individual. 

I have an invisible disease.

After a lifetime of chronic illnesses, years of medical monitoring, specialists, surgical interventions, and ongoing physical therapy, I was finally diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Hypermobility Type III (hEDS, a connective tissue disorder) in the fall of 2018. I had allowed my conditions and my challenges to be excuses for living an inactive and sedentary lifestyle throughout my childhood and early adult years. This diagnosis shed light on and encompassed the myriad of health challenges I cope with and manage daily: heart arrhythmia, frequent joint subluxations, exertion asthma, pelvic prolapse, SI joint dysfunction, and gastrointestinal dysmotility, to name a few. (The picture highlighting some of my medical conditions has almost doubled in recent years.)

I'm at a place in my life where 'it's okay to not be okay'. And I am okay. Instead of feeling hopeless or that my efforts are in the long run futile, I try to greet each day and those I encounter with a smile, because maybe, one will be returned to me.

Apart from occasional family outdoor hobbies, I had no role model for regular fitness growing up, so I didn't understand what self-control or self-discipline felt like (especially with food). I had to learn the hard way - by doing. I had to stop wishing for the life and body I wanted and start working for it. No one could do it for me. It was just going to take time and a lot of self-compassion.

The strength training program my husband designed for me in 2015 changed everything. I fell in love with weightlifting - it transformed me, inside and out: improving my posture, metabolic functions, joint health, and more, but it cannot stop my disease from progressing. There is no cure. I'm just grateful that I started doing what I could to stave off the decline when I did.

People appear or act shocked when they see me walk into the gym with my cane (aka "nice walking stick") or a neck brace (thankfully I've never been in a car accident). "What happened to you!?" is the most common statement. It's just a condition of my existence. Some days are better than others. Some days I train hard and crush goals and some days I can hardly dress myself. (I have a disability placard for my car, when I need it, which I'm sure confuses many people, but I can't predict my daily living experience.) Every day that I train and endeavor to take better care of myself is a better day - often helping me set aside my mobility and stabilization aides, even if only temporarily. For that, I am grateful.

I'll let you in on my secret, friends - this little nugget of wisdom I've learned on this journey... just because one body part doesn't work properly doesn't mean they all stop working! There is always something that can be done to improve my/our health... it's about intention. If I don't stay on top of my health, my conditions will most certainly get worse. 

Do I rest? Absolutely. Listening to my body is essential. A couple of days of rest between workouts, or a week off here and there does wonders for my recovery and improvement goals. Being too sedentary however, exacerbates ALL of my symptoms - so for that, I express deep gratitude to the natural bodybuilding community for providing an outlet that has given me goals, pushed my trust in myself, helped me create a stronger body, and a more tenacious spirit. As I learned through an EDS-focused podcast, I may have disabilities... but I am not to be underestimated.

In October of 2022, just four days after competing at the INBF/WNBF WA State Natural Pro/Am in Arlington, WA, I underwent a heart ablation to correct concerns and electrical misfiring in my heart due to SVT. In April of that year, while my mother was in hospital after my father died, my childhood heart arrhythmia became a more concerning affair with SVT. My heart was so badly out of electrical rhythm, physically pulsating/gyrating my body, that the ER doctor decided to stop and reset my heart rhythm with a back-to-back adenosine dosing procedure. 

I was awake and explaining the sensations of the experience to the attending doctor and nurse. I found it fascinating and didn't know if I was expected to pass out... or temporarily lose consciousness because of my heart being stopped... so I just kept talking. The nurse returned later out of curiosity - he'd never done that procedure before (and had no reason to experience it himself) and so was intrigued by my descriptions. On the day of my ablation 6-months later, I was blessed to have a bodybuilder friend on staff who ensured I was well taken care of, however, I rarely have cause to worry having a critical care nurse for a husband. Thank you, My Love.