This month The Bald Man had the opportunity to go one-on-one with fitness and figure competitor Alicia Marie. She has a Degree from the University of Connecticut in Neuroscience and has done post graduate work at Columbia University and New York University.

Alicia has been a fitness and health contributor on various television and radio programs such as Good Day New York, the WB11 morning news, MSNBC and MAXIM radio.

Alicia co-hosted a weekend primetime half-hour program on the Comcast Cable Network entitled Scene 8 on CN8 in Philadelphia. Alicia also had a reoccurring role on Comedy Central’s The Dave Chappelle Show where she played over-zealous news anchor, “Lisa Evangelista.” At present Alicia is the host of HBO’s Chat Zone.

Alicia has graced just about every fitness magazine in the country including Muscle & Fitness magazine, HERS, Oxygen, Flex magazine, Ironman, Musclemag, Planet Muscle, Fitness, SELF, O Magazine, Glamour, Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness and most recently appeared on the covers of Fitness RX for Women and Oxygen magazine.
 
Alicia is also a free lance writer contributing to such magazines as Men’s Health and Men’s Edge.

This girl has a schedule that would put most people in the hospital. Sit back and give a big OSX Fitness welcome to Alicia Marie.

TBM: Hello Alicia, thank you for taking the time to talk with us at OSXFitness.com.

Alicia Marie: Thank you for having me!

TBM: Where are you originally from?

Alicia Marie: I am originally from a small town in Connecticut called Naugatuck!

TBM:Where do you reside now?

Alicia Marie: NEW YORK CITY!!

TBM: Were you active when you were younger?

Alicia Marie: YES. Very! I was a competitive cheerleader (WON national toe touch jump championship in high school), dancer, gymnast, softball, volleyball player!

TBM: Did you play sports when you were in high school and college?

Alicia Marie: High school Track: High Jump and cheerleading!  In college, cheerleader for the Men’s Basketball and Football teams!

TBM:How old were you when you began to train seriously?

Alicia Marie: Actually, age 9! I used to see comic books and wanted to look like the superheroes in them. I started doing those popular workout videos and television shows on TV in 4th grade. By age 19 I had my own public access fitness tv show. It was cheesy, but it got me out there in some small local way!

TBM: You have an undergraduate degree for the University of Connecticut in Neuroscience. You graduated Magna cum Laude and with Distinction 3.8/4.0. That is very impressive. How has your scientific background helped you in the fitness industry?

Alicia Marie: Scientific background? I like the way that sounds!  I think that all that endocrinology and Micro Cell Bio kind of helped me digest the nutrition portion of the program a bit better than most perhaps. And it also helped with understanding the role that hormones play in muscle growth a lot better.  So yes, in a big way – I came into all of this with a game advantage.

TBM: You have competed in numerous fitness, figure and bikini contest. How many titles have you won and what were some of the highlights of the competitions you were in?

Alicia Marie: I have been very lucky thus far in my 20+ show stint as a competitor! My first show in 2003 was the Ms. Bikini South Beach in Miami. About 60 competitors. I won! Surprised me to death, to say the very least!  Over the next few years, I went on to win the overalls in: the INBF North East Classic Figure championship, the NPC Eastern Coast Physique, the WNBF Texas Shredder Classic, the Ms. Bikini Pittsburgh, the Ms. Bikini Universe (bested over 115 contestants), Davana Medina Figure Classic and just last year the 2006 NPC BodyRock Figure Championship! I was named Ms.Muscle Beach in 2005 and crowned the first ever Ms. Muscle & Fitness Magazine in 2006 by Weider himself.
I have placed very high in NPC amateur events thus far and I am going for my IFBB pro-card right now. I will be competing in the Arnold Classic!

TBM: Not only have you competed, your pictures have appeared in just about everyone health, fitness, and bodybuilding magazine in the universe. You are Ms. Muscle and Fitness 2006 and were Ms Bikini Universe 2004. How do you prepare yourself to be in front of the camera as often as you are?

Alicia Marie: LOL! Like I said…I’ve been lucky to work with and meet some amazing people and some of the industry’s greats (Oxygen magazine, Robert Kennedy, Muscle & Fitness, MuscleMag, Jeff Everson Planet Muscle)…first off, I rarely go off my diet. My food stays clean 90% of the time – my portions just get larger. AND I allow myself the Sunday cheat! It gets easier as you go along.  I don’t really miss all the crappy foods. I do miss doughnuts though! I haven’t had a real doughnut in about 4 years!  But I know how important it is for the magazines to be able to book you and be confident that you are going to show up in shape.

TBM: Do you have to stay disciplined with your diet?

Alicia Marie: Oh heck yes!  I do look at food as fuel. Sounds dreary, but for me THIS STUFF IS FUN!  I like knowing what food can do to my body and watching it change just by altering things in my diet. I was born with very muscular genetics – so all I need is the right food intake and my body will be ready for action!

TBM: What sort of diet do you follow when you are preparing for a photo shoot or a competition?

Alicia Marie: I still go low carb – high protein, but I don’t start dieting weeks out. Rather, a good week is all that I need for a shoot where they usually don’t want me shredded anyway. Just lean and fit. I never let my body just “go.” I am always 3 lbs away from a photoshoot and 6lbs away from show weight J

TBM: Competitive bodybuilders, power lifters and fitness and figure competitors have an off-season where they try to work on areas that need improvement. Do you have an official off-season where you try to put on a little extra muscle or work on certain body parts?

Alicia Marie: Off-season for me is 6 little pounds. I do not go up in size to bulk. I do, however, eat twice as much complex carbohydrate (in the form of complex carbs, like oatmeal and sweet potato and fruit) so that I have the energy to do the things I want and need to do. The extra carbs also fuel my body to be able to work on whatever it is in my physique that needs the work. The competition diet is not meant to be constant – your body is built to regulate. Therefore, if you diet too long and too hard – it will stop working or plateau.  I keep it clean in the off, but I do have more overall calories and the Sunday cheat – something that is strictly forbidden when competition season is breathing down my next (usually beginning April and going until start of October).

TBM: You have done modeling that is known as “perfect parts” modeling. Can you explain what that is to our readers?

Alicia Marie: Sure – it’s actually kind of funny!  I belong to a “parts” modeling agency as well…an agency that is comprised of people who have nice looking “parts” for ads and such. Think hand models!  I belong to an agency for my butt (rear-end, bottom, etc), my stomach, legs and my arms/shoulders/clavicle.  Crazy but these things do exist…for instance a few years back, my butt was the one featured in all of Jergens “You Bet Your Bottom” firming lotion ads and billboards J
Funny thing – seeing your butt from I-95!

TBM: What companies have you represented as a “perfect parts” model and what body parts did you model?

Alicia Marie: Besides Jergens bottom ads, I did Curel for my arms and legs, Eggbeaters used my abs for their 0% Fat campaign, Filene’s used my ‘silhouette’ (outline of my body in shadow), Hydroxycut used my abs and legs, Colgate used my smile/teeth, etc etc…J

TBM: Alicia, you are not only an accomplished fitness and figure competitor, bikini model and model, but you are also and accomplished writer. You have studied writing for broadcast news and reporting at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and New York University. Are you more inclined to write for print or do you enjoy writing for television?

Alicia Marie: I was an executive in production for MTV for 6 years following college. There, I wasn’t a writer in the creative sense, but I did a lottttt of editing for broadcast! I prefer print these days…the timeline is more forgiving. And since this is a hobby for me, really, it works better that way.  I am a sports FANATIC (especially baseball) so I have been making a foray in that direction for the past year (see www.thewickedref.com) some of my favorite sit-down interviews include: MLB’s former badboy John Rocker, NFL’s current retiree Tiki Barber and Kordell Stewart.

TBM: Do you write regularly for magazines and/or other publications?

Alicia Marie: I have been under freelance contract! I have written for Men’s Health, Men’s Edge, Fitness,  Oxygen and promo articles for Spike TV. I also write for a very popular online sports newsletter HotSauceLive! That’s for fun!

TBM: Speaking of Television, you were a regular on the Dave Chappell show. You hosted an Emmy nominated show in Philadelphia entitled “Scene 8”. You have contributed to many, many television shows in New York and presently you are the host of HBO’s The Chat Zone. That is an enormous amount of exposure. Do people recognize you on the street?

Alicia Marie: I wasn’t a truly a regular on Dave Chappelle – I played a newscaster in a few episodes. Loose interpretation of “regular!” [laugh]. Dave is a funny and really smart guy to work with. He had me on the floor during table reads! It always surprises me when people recognize me on the street or in airports or in supermarkets! I’ve even had people come over to my table when I am out to dinner with friends!  It’s a nice thing, but it still always surprises me. I usually just say – “Good eye!” [laugh].

In Philly – I used to get it a lot because the show was on all the time and during prime TV hours…local celebrity. Nowaays I get recognized for the Chapelle show and for Oxygen and FitnessRX exposure J

TBM: Your schedule must be insane. How are you able to maintain your fitness regiment with a schedule like yours?

Alicia Marie:I have the willpower and drive of a beast!  I have a lot of discipline. I know what I need to do and I just do it. No questions asked and no excuses – which is what many people are good for. We are all busy.  The key is making the time MAKING IT HAPPEN. That is what I am about. It is a priority for me and it makes me feel good. So I am never that far away from a set of dumbbells or a cardio bike!
I schedule my workouts in like everything else I do.

TBM: You have opened a new business venture. Can you introduce our readers to what your new business is?

Alicia Marie:I am very VERY excited about it! It is a fitness consulting company called PROJECT: Body™! I do personal training, online and LIVE, and competition prep, posing sessions and workshops.  The workshops (coined, “The HotBody Project™)  are really for new competitors and veterans alike!  We are having our first HotBody Project™ workshop in New York City on March 31st. It is currently completely sold out – so we have been wait-listing interested people now. I am planning to do at least 2 more this year and 4 next year in different cities.

People who are interested should visit: www.projectbodyfitness.com or email my team at:
hotbody@aliciamarie.com.

The site is just in flyer mode as of right now but will be active this Spring with updates, tips, ideas from the names in the industry, newsletters, protein supplements and clothing and workout items to purchase, you name it! I am planning a lot for the site, so it should be a lot of fun to produce. I can’t wait to get it up and running!

TBM: What do you tell women that have reservations about lifting weights?

Alicia Marie: Find out what the reservations are. Some women shy away from the idea of “putting on muscle.” So I try to stay away from putting it that way. It is more like building lean body mass which just eats up fat! I try to be an example to those that I train and work with.

TBM: What type of weightlifting schedule do you follow?

Alicia Marie: Four Day split. Its not that bad! It changes because my schedule is so hectic! But I get everything in though.

TBM: Good luck with The Hot Body Project.

Alicia Marie: Thank you – I am so excited about it! 

TBM: Now on top of everything else you will be competing at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic in Columbus, Ohio on March 2-5. Will you be competing in the amateur figure competition?

Alicia Marie: Yes – the amateur. One day – hopefully, the pro show stage with Arnold himself!

TBM: Is this your first experience competing at the Arnold Classic?

Alicia Marie: This is the FIRST ever AMATeur show for the Arnold! It is mainly to showcase the amateur up and comers in the NPC.  Thankfully, I made the competitor’s list so wish me luck!

TBM: Can our readers find you at any of the booths at the Arnold Classic?

Alicia Marie: Saturday and Sunday I will be at the BSN booth meeting and greeting! It’s my favorite part of the weekend!  Come visit!

TBM: Alicia, thank you so much for the interview and good luck at the Arnold Classic.

Alicia Marie: THANK YOU – I am pumped for the show and excited about the weekend’s events!  See you there..xoxo AM