Bikini & Lingerie Model Tamarra Hay Interviewed By FullyFlexed.com

What’s your background? How did you get started into the fitness modeling field?

Let’s see – I am a 37 year old Canadian bikini and lingerie model, fitness fanatic, wife and mother of two teenage daughters and a three year old son.

I guess I took a bit of an unconventional path to modeling and competitive fitness – a path that wound through business, media, family and ultimately ended in front of the camera. As one of the original drivers of the social spa movement in Canada and the US, I spent a number of years building a successful business on the premise that health was driven by positive social interaction. My success in business lead to numerous media appearances in international publications, on radio, television and the web. While successful in business however, family has always been my priority. In early 2009, I left the spa industry to manage a health issue with one of my children, a decision that brought stability to a difficult family situation and forever changed the course of my career.

During this time, I set my sights on a modeling and fitness career that would leverage my media experience, energy and competitive drive, while allowing me the flexibility to put my family first. With the help of fitness competitor friends, Fran Dennis and Jodi Hughes, I recommitted myself to clean eating and intense fitness training. Since that point, things have really just snowballed!! I shot with renowned Oxygen, American Curves, and Playboy photographer, Paul Buceta last year, which really kicked my career into high gear and opened up a wealth of modeling opportunities and the chance to shoot with other major glamor and fitness photographers across North America. Now that I am established in the modeling industry, I have set my sights on my next challenge and will be competing in the bikini division at SAF in June and plan to enter the WBFF competition in September.

What do you like best about being into fitness?

Fitness is about feeling, looking and being your best. It is a personal commitment that has so many positive spin off benefits, both for you and those around you. Setting a positive example for my teenage daughters is extremely important to me. Through my commitment to my own fitness I am sending a positive message to my girls: work hard, be healthy and take pride in yourself and everything you do!”

What is your current training program like? Any specific cardio workouts you like to use?

I currently train 6 days per week on a 3 day split of chest/triceps, back/biceps and legs/shoulders in addition to lots of core and stability ball work.

My cardio consists of intense 30-40 minute interval work on the elliptical 6 days per week. I lace up the boxing gloves and hit the heavy bag when I need some variety or a little stress relief!

What is your favorite and least favorite body part to workout?

I’m a bikini and lingerie model at heart, so working out my legs and back side are the obvious choice for my favorite body parts to workout. Squats and walking lunges are my favourite exercises to blast these muscles. My least favorite body part would have to be my shoulders, although I’m training them hard leading up to SAF.

What’s your daily nutrition like? Any favorite foods you like to use while dieting and when you have cheat meals?

My daily nutrition is pretty structured. I try to stick to small clean meals every 3 hours, balancing high quality, lean protein with complex carbs, starting with my favorite oatmeal with blueberries at breakfast! I eat lots of fish and chicken and supplement with protein shakes to make sure my body keeps up with my training.

Cheat meals are a necessary part of staying on track and for me it has to be cheese! Any cheese will do in a pinch, but warm brie with red pepper jelly is hands down my favorite.

What is the most challenging thing you deal with about consistently staying top shape?

The biggest challenge to consistently staying in top shape is definitely time. While juggling a hectic shooting schedule and busy family life, making time to train can be a challenge. As a model however there really is no off season. You have to be ready to shoot on short notice. Consistently staying in shape is therefore simply part of the job and that’s how I treat it. Workouts are planned into my weekly schedule so they don’t get put off or missed.

Care to share what your daily routine is like with us?

My daily routine is pretty structured on non-shooting days (on days when I have a photo shoot, the whole thing goes out the window!)

6:00am Jump out of bed, put on the coffee and check my email
7:00am Breakfast with the family
8:00am Shuttle kids off to school
9:00am Cardio (Elliptical followed by heavy bag work)
10:00am Weight Training (3 day splits)
12:00pm Nap with my son (best part of my day!!)
2:30pm Run or Walk with Moose (my Golden Retriever)
4:00pm Pick up the kids
5:00pm Dinner with the family
6:00pm Arena hopping
9:00pm E-mail, photo shoot scheduling, social network updates
11:00pm Hit the Sack

Got any advice you want to give for someone trying to get into the fitness modeling field?

Surround yourself with positive people and seek out the best photographers in the business.

The fitness and glamour modeling world is a relatively small, tightly knit community with a ton of genuine, supportive and incredibly talented people. Become part of the community, listen, learn and use the knowledge to build your own brand. Marketing yourself properly is essential and a strong portfolio of shots by respected photographers is a must.

What are your plans for the future?

I am very excited about the future and what it holds. I am shooting with some of the biggest names in fitness and glamour photography over the next few months with the hopes of earning those coveted spots on the covers of American Curves, Inside Fitness, Status and Maxim. I am currently training for the 2010 SAF Model Search Competition in June and plan to compete in the WBFF Diva Bikini competition in the fall. Beyond that – continue to do what I love, have fun and work hard to accomplish my goals!

Any favorite quote or saying you like to use?

As an avid hockey fan, I tend to lean heavily on a Wayne Gretzky quote – “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” True in hockey, true in business and true in life!

Tamarra Hay’s Website www.tamarrahay.com
Credit to the photos belongs to Paul Buceta (www.paulbuceta.com).