\u201cIf you looked at my LinkedIn page you\u2019ll say, \u2018Who is this person?\u2019\u201d says Gillian Young Barkalow with a laugh.<\/p>\n
Her resume is indeed lengthy. The Canadian native who was also raised in France has worked as a producer for the Discovery Channel, a writer and personality for Food Network Canada, as well as holding other broadcast and journalism positions. Young Barkalow wrote for\u00a0TraveLife<\/em>, operated a supper club in Toronto and was the public relations contact for the international science research outlet ResearchGate.<\/p>\n The list keeps going: Author of\u00a0Overcoming Night Eating Disorder<\/em>,\u00a0The Guiltless Gourmet Cookbook<\/em>\u00a0and other publications. She is a National Gym Association Bikini Pro and in November, won two classes at the Las Vegas Classic, a bodybuilding competition.<\/p>\n There\u2019s more, but for our purposes, Young Barkalow came to Monterey County a decade ago because of her husband, chiropractor Derek Barkalow. She is a certified nutrition and fitness coach and opened a private studio in Carmel, where she offers a variety of courses and workshops, with a focus on empowering women.<\/p>\n Young Barkalow: [Laughs] I\u2019m a curious person, but I always knew I wanted to help people. I had always been studying health and fitness. I fell in love with bodybuilding even before moving here and a lot of women were coming to me saying they noticed my transformation. All that applied to health and fitness coaching.<\/p>\n What\u2019s funny is I don\u2019t consider myself a competitive person. I like to compete against myself. With bodybuilding, you\u2019re trying to improve your physique.<\/p>\n It always shocks people when they look at me\u00a0\u2013 \u201cYou\u2019re a bodybuilder?\u201d I\u2019ll tell you why. It\u2019s science and art, and I like both. I like to create. You get to build your own body\u00a0\u2013 it\u2019s so rewarding. You improve every time. This past show was especially rewarding because I coached myself. I used all that I had learned, which was very affirming.<\/p>\n Most people don\u2019t understand bodybuilding. For me, it\u2019s a mental game. Can you push yourself enough? You\u2019re showing off years of work. You\u2019re using your knowledge. It\u2019s a visual representation of your hard work. When I worked in television, you create something and you get to see it. I love it.<\/p>\n I hate that. You have to put in the effort, but you don\u2019t have to suffer. The all-or-nothing mindset hurts people the most. I\u2019m logical. I do the basic things\u00a0\u2013 things that work. We\u2019re always being sold the quick fix.<\/p>\n I get so frustrated. \u201cOnly eat organic.\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t eat seed oils.\u201d This culture removes things. People are focusing on health trends, but they\u2019ve lost focus on the basics. I\u2019m very old-school. We\u2019re so stuck in this culture on demonizing one thing\u00a0\u2013 carbs, sugars\u00a0\u2013 that we lose the big picture. I love sugar, but I consume it in mindful quantities. I eat chocolate every day. I want to enjoy my life. Our bodies are smart. When it needs iron, you crave beef.<\/p>\n Often the problem with health and fitness studies is that they are done on men. It can have the opposite effect on women. Women are not small men. We need to apply things slightly differently. Women\u2019s bodies don\u2019t like to feel stressed. We start to see hormonal imbalances. My method is female-focused. I want women to be empowered by their bodies, by their own beauty standards. If you feel beautiful, that\u2019s very empowering.<\/p>\n Many people suffer from it, but it\u2019s not understood. It\u2019s when you eat the majority of your calories before bed. Many will wake up during the night and feel they need to eat to go back to sleep. I had this for 15 years and could not find one person who understood it. What we have to do is create a new neuropathway\u00a0\u2013 change your daytime eating routine. I\u2019ve worked with hundreds of people and they say never has a doctor told them to eat more during the day.<\/p>\n This is the longest I\u2019ve stuck with something. But I use what I\u2019ve learned from the other careers. It\u2019s time to use that information to help people.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nWeekly<\/em>:<\/em>\u00a0So you had a problem settling on a career?<\/h4>\n
You were on cooking shows like Food Truck Face Off. You obviously like to compete.<\/h4>\n
Why bodybuilding?<\/h4>\n
You know what they used to say, \u201cNo pain, no gain.\u201d<\/h4>\n
But fads are the American way.<\/h4>\n
Why focus on women\u2019s fitness?<\/h4>\n
Explain night eating syndrome.<\/h4>\n
Is there a job that you miss?<\/h4>\n