Girl Talk: The Power Of Fitness - Part 1

This week as a part of Girl Talk, I had the opportunity to talk to Allison Warrell. Allison is a sports nutritionist, personal trainer, bodybuilder, and one of my first fitness inspirations on Instagram. She proves on a daily basis that the limit truly does not exist when it comes to what the body is capable of and the words “I can’t” do not exist in her vocabulary. In part I of our conversation, Allison and I discuss her fitness journey and her diet and training regimen as she prepares for competition.

JILLIAN: Please start by introducing yourself.

ALLISON: I’m Allison Warrell. I am 45 years old. I am an achondroplastic dwarf. I reside and currently call California my home. I am from Dallas, Texas. I grew up there, lived there for 18 years, went to college in Miami. After college I moved back to Texas, realized I didn’t want to stay there, so I moved to California and have been here ever since.

I am very active in women’s bodybuilding. I plan to compete this year- I took last year off due to the pandemic. There was a lot of uncertainty and I did not want to put my body through hell just to find out the show was going to be cancelled. My coach and I decided to not compete so I have just been training. I do have access to a gym- somebody gave me a key to their facility where they have equipment. I called it my “speakeasy” because it was in the warehouse district and I was often the only one in there. I need to exercise for my mental health. I want to feel good and look good but I also need fitness for my mental health. Luckily, for cardio, I have a stairmaster and elliptical at home so I am able to keep up with my heart health. It’s nice now because I get extra sleep. I can sleep, wake up, jump on the elliptical and I don’t have to drive to a gym to do cardio. Typically, as a competitor, in my off-season I do one session of cardio a day. In season, it turns into usually two by the end of preparation.

JILLIAN: Wow.

ALLISON: Yes, I love it because I don’t have to waste time going to and from the gym. Time is precious for me. I love fitness, but it is not my full time job. I do have a full time job so I have to work it into that schedule. My job and what I do is not fitness related- I am a purchasing manager for a national home builder. The company where I work is very much into health and wellness so they know of my crazy habits. For example, they know I eat at meetings, they know I eat on the job sites, they know I am always doing crazy stuff- and it’s cool because some companies would probably question it. Whenever I compete, all the bigwigs email me wanting to know how I did, wanting to see pictures. It is cool that they care and show interest. We are one of the biggest, private, national companies and it is nice to have the support from my team and everybody there. Obviously though fitness is my passion, I love it.

JILLIAN: Where did your fitness journey start?

ALLISON: At the age of 35 I realized I was overweight. I am very active in the LPA community and I had several friends at the time who were going through major surgeries, like back fusions, and I realized that I don’t want that. Up until that point, all I have had was my tubes and adenoids taken out.

JILLIAN: Yes, I did as well.

ALLISON: Exactly, it’s common for kids with dwarfism because of our ears. At that point my one friend was nearly 100% fused. She was young, had a great life ahead of her, and I knew that I didn’t want that for me. When I was in college I would go to the gym and I would do step aerobics and little things here and there but I wasn’t totally into it. I was a “Let’s just go to the gym” kind of person.

JILLIAN: Right.

ALLISON: When I decided to lose weight I was about 135 - 140 pounds and, by my definition, pretty big. I joined the gym and, for about a month or so, was pretty much only doing cardio. A personal trainer approached me and said, “Let me sell you four sessions.” I bought the four sessions and, in the meantime, he got laid off. I requested another trainer to take over my last session and I ended up buying more sessions. Once I started losing weight, my mobility started getting better and I started looking and feeling better. It took time. At the beginning, dieting was hard. I was a big beer drinker- I’m from Texas and we drink beer. I knew that I had to give that up. I started by only allowing myself to drink from Thursday to Sunday then Friday to Saturday then only drinking Saturday.

On May 1 of 2014 I decided that I was going to compete the next year. I started to see my body change and I wanted to challenge myself. I quit drinking, really dialed into my diet and discipline, and was doing everything that I needed to do. My first show was in May of 2015 and it went well. It was with a small, local federation. I got the itch and wanted to do it again and again. It is definitely one of the biggest and hardest challenges I always face. For 16 to 20 weeks it is mentally a lot, it is physically a lot. It’s discipline. I’m like clockwork and I have to keep my routine. I eat at certain hours, I train at certain hours, I work at certain hours, and when I get off course my body does not like it.

JILLIAN: Your body knows.

ALLISON: Oh yeah. Over this last year, because of the pandemic with things closing and not having access to my normal equipment my body was like “NOPE!” It did not like the change. Once I was able to get back into my routine it was like “Okay, now I feel good, we’re grooving.”

So, in 2015 I did my first two shows. After, I took some time off and competed again in 2016. In 2017 I did two more shows, then I knew I needed to grow and make some significant changes. I’m not judged differently than average-sized women. We all have to meet the same criteria and hit the same poses. Obviously with my body and the achondroplasia frame we have had to manipulate the posing so I can execute it right. So I have to do it a little differently but I still have to execute it just like someone who was 5’5”. I placed the highest at that time- I placed second against all average-sized women.

In 2017, when I got second, I was like “Oh, I’m going to go to the national show, just for fun.” I knew I would not do well but I got exposure. People were like, “Oh my gosh” and obviously I’m the shortest woman to ever compete. During that time period I was getting sponsors and growing my brand.

In January of 2018 I released my coach that I had since 2011. I wanted to just be on my own and do my own thing for a little bit. I had a heart-to-heart with myself and said I needed to take a lot of time off, I need to do this right. I want to know more about the sport and not just do it for fun. My ultimate goal is to win my IFBB (International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness) pro card and I will win my IFBB pro card.

JILLIAN: Yeah, you will.

ALLISON: Thank you. It’s tough, it’s definitely not easy.

I took about 7 months to myself, doing my own training. A brand new gym opened and all my friends, who I hadn’t seen in a while, joined and the environment was awesome. I saw this guy training people and I thought, “Man, I like his style. I wonder what he could do with me.” I know modifications and I wondered if we could take it to the next level. When I approached him his mind went to a whole other level. He said, “I love this because it’s a challenge.” We started working together in late 2018 and I have been with him ever since. It’s funny because people will say, “You have a coach?!” and my response is “Yes. I have to check in with him every Sunday. I send him pictures.” I train with him as well. On the competitive level, when you’re in the final weeks of training, you need someone to look at you and make sure you are heading in the right direction. It’s really tough to do it on your own. When I see other little people they point out, “Well, you’re a coach.” My response is always, “Yes, I’m a coach. But I also need a coach.”

JILLIAN: Right. Everyone needs someone.

ALLISON: Exactly, everyone needs someone, which is one of the reasons why I started the Facebook group H.E.L.P. (Health & Exercise For Little People).

JILLIAN: Where did H.E.L.P. came from?

ALLISON: I’ve been in LPA all my life, I have a lot of friends who are little people and, with social media, people were watching me lose weight. I kept getting all these DMs and it was hard trying to filter through and answer all these messages. My solution was to start a page with the hope of motivating people and getting them to start their own fitness journey.

I show modifications and different things I do. A gym is intimidating for LPs because most of the equipment really doesn’t fit us. If you can look at a piece of equipment, use it right, and really understand the body part you are trying to train then I think it makes a huge difference. That’s what I always want to show- that we can walk into any gym and use this equipment.

My ultimate dream is to open a gym where half of the equipment is LP made and built and the other half is for average-sized people. That’s my ultimate dream.

JILLIAN: Can I invest?

ALLISON: Yes, absolutely, and I know a few people who are like, “Yes! Let’s do it!” But, I really love my job so I can’t fully make that change.

Right now, what is most important to me is growing my brand, getting sponsors, and representing companies that I truly believe in. The companies I represent right now are ones that truly back me and my agenda and support me in the shows that I do. They understand my purpose. A lot of people will ask “Why do I do this (bodybuilding)?” and I know my why. My why is to avoid having any kind of major surgery and, at 45 years old, I am still surgery free.

JILLIAN: That is amazing.

ALLISON: It is. I haven’t had anything done except have my tubes and adenoids taken out. That’s it. My legs are bowed so when I was a kid I could have gotten them straightened. At the time my doctors told my mom that the bowing was not severe enough to require fixing, so I never went through that. I think if I had done anything, that would probably have been it. But I haven’t had any issues with my legs.

Training is hard on my body. I take care of it. I have a sports therapist that I see every two weeks. He did a lot of research on my bone structure, such as how my hips are tilted, and why my body moves the way it does. He knows what to work on, what to fix, and what to do. Along with that, I have a massage therapist where I go and pass out. They are each a little bit different: he, the sports therapist, beats me up while she, the massage therapist, relaxes me.

I eat very well. I’m very disciplined where I’ll eat the same thing for days on end. That doesn’t bother me. I drink lots of water. I just try to stay healthy, promote it, and show others that they can do it too. That’s why I love it. Plus, I feel good. I love when people are shocked when I tell them that I’m 45.

JILLIAN: When you decided to compete were there doubters? How did you respond to people who said, “You can’t do this because you’re a little person”?

ALLISON: I ignore it just like I ignore when people ask me random questions when I’m out in public about being a dwarf. I was like, “I’m going to show the world that I can do this.” When I did the master national show in December of 2019, I won my class: class A which is 5’2” and under. When you win your class you get to compete for the overall so I was up on stage with the other three class winners. Class D is 6’00” or above and I’m 3’11”. It literally looked like…

JILLIAN: AT&T Raising The Bar?

ALLISON: Yes, exactly. Now, I like the stage, I’ve been in theater. I think why I love being on stage is competing, doing my routine, the suit...The whole process is so much fun. You’ve worked really hard at getting your body to where it is and by that point I try to just have fun with it. When I was up there people said, “You held your own. You would have no idea that you were a little person versus that girl who is 6’00” on the end,” which I found to be very rewarding. It was fun to finally be in an overall competition because that was the first time I had ever gotten to do that. On that show you had to win the overall to get your pro card. I did not win the overall, but I am shooting for another masters show. I figured I need to do another masters and go against people that are my own age versus these young kids that are in their twenties. My goal is to do the show in Pittsburgh at the end of July.

JILLIAN: How do you prep? What is your process in preparing for a show?

ALLISON: Let’s see. Like I said before I have a coach who guides me. For training I do cardio in the morning, go to work, train at night and then, as we get closer to the show, I’ll do additional cardio right before I go to bed.

JILLIAN: Okay.

ALLISON: I go to bed, wake up, and repeat the process all over again. I try and get an average of 6-7 hours of sleep. I do take one full rest day a week where I don’t do cardio or go to the gym. I’ve noticed my body actually reacts a lot better in the recovery. I was very selfish for a long time thinking I don’t need rest days and then once I started taking one it was an OMG moment.

In regards to diet, my coach track and I track macros. Some days my coach will tell me 150 grams of protein, 200 grams of carbs, 30 grams of fat and then it is my job to figure out what to eat in those ranges. I use an app called My Macros+ to track and I pretty much eat the same thing on repeat. I use a meal-prep company that provides all my protein which helps cut out prep time. The protein is already cooked which makes it easy for me to quickly weigh out a portion. I then add carbs and fats that I need. Vegetables are optional, I only add them in when I need to be full. In addition I do drink green juice in the morning to help get those nutrients.

As we get closer to the show date I have to get a suit made. The process of designing a physique suit is a lot of fun as it is custom fit for me. I get to pick out the pattern the crosses, bedazzle it with rhinestones, etc, all while following the requirements that are regulated by the federation.

The week of competition is what we call peak week. A lot of people don’t realize that our bodies have as much skin as an average-sized person. That’s why our arms and legs have those extra folds because we have short limbs with all this extra water and fat that fills the skin up. Over time my new coach and I finally figured out what it takes for me to look good onstage: the goal is to be as dry and dehydrated as possible. You get really, really dehydrated then, at the end, you incorporate carbohydrates, which has water in them, that help fill out the muscles. It is the worst week ever. Honestly, I do have to drink more water to dry out...the science behind the process is so crazy. I’m drinking about two gallons a day, which is a lot of water. Normally I drink about a gallon to a gallon and a half a day. So you drink a ton at the beginning and by the end of the week you are drinking none, pulling it all out. I’m not a happy camper during that week. I hate it. It is very mental. Last time I competed I was craving a Diet Coke and, as I was getting off the stage, someone had Doordashed me a Diet Coke and I was so happy.

JILLIAN: That’s amazing.

ALLISON: Afterwards you have to be very careful in how you incorporate everything back in. You have pulled all your water out and you are lean as you possibly can be. For example, if you eat a crapload of food and junk afterwards, because you have these cravings, you get bloated and uncomfortable and it does mess with your digestive system. What I do is a process called reverse-dieting, which is getting your calories up to normal levels but you don’t do it all at once. Again, that’s why I have a coach. He guides me and tells me what to do. He’s my teacher: I take what he gives me and I execute. If I don’t execute, that’s my bad. That affects me, it does not affect him.

JILLIAN: Right.

ALLISON: It’s definitely tough. Luckily I have a great support group. I have great friends that are in the industry. But I’m not going to lie, I have lost friends over all this throughout the years. They don’t agree with what I do, my eating habits, or that I quit drinking. If that’s the case, if they don’t want to support me, then I’m okay with that because I have friends that will. It was a challenge at first. It was very hard for some people to accept, even my mom and sister would say “Come on! You can eat that!” Now that they’ve seen me go through it and compete they understand the process. I always try and tell people that if you have the opportunity to watch a bodybuilding show, do it. It is the most fascinating thing ever. It is one of the hardest sports, I think, because of what we have to go through, and people still don’t understand that. Like I said before, my ultimate goal is that I want to win. I’m very competitive and I’m competitive with myself. I do beat myself up. I’m very hard on myself. I have tried to get better and not be so hard on myself, but with your cell phone and constantly taking pictures of yourself...It’s tough but I get through it.

JILLIAN: That’s awesome. I am just so impressed with the discipline and the amount of work...it’s unbelievable.

ALLISON: It is.