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Published on Friday, 18 September 2009 04:26

Have you seen this girl before? She's only competed a handful of times but she's quickly making a name for herself. Ecaterina Pasiakos or "Nina" (as she likes to be called) has been a gymnast since she was 5 years old.  She's also competed at the collegiate level all four years of her college career at Southern Connecticut State University.  In this EXCLUSIVE interview with Rx Muscle, the extremely exotic, sexy, figure competitor from New England reveals all.

RX: Okay, can you tell me how to pronounce your name correctly?

Nina: It's "Caterina" with an "E" in front of it. It gets butchered all the time, so I don't mind people calling me "Nina."

RX: Nina, do you still practice gymnastics?

Nina: (chuckles) I think I'd break if I did any gymnastics at this point. Of course, any gymnast does a handstand anywhere it's possible and I still play around on the trampoline, but I haven't really done any structured gymnastics or stretched since I graduated college - and I was 22 years old then.

RX: How old are you now?

Nina: 31

RX: How tall are you and what is your in season and off season weight?

Nina: I am 5 ft 1 ½ inches tall and I'm about 115/116 lbs on stage and about 130 in the off season.

RX: When did you become interested in weight lifting and figure shows?

Nina: My brother is a power lifter and I got with him to try to improve my strength for tumbling during college. He taught me the core movements and my strength did improve and it definitely helped my tumbling. After college, I enjoyed weight training so I just continued. I changed my workouts from a basic power lifting routine to hitting other more specialized areas as well, such as calves.

RX: When did you first decide to compete in figure?

Nina: I guess it was around November or December of last year. Yeah - it was right after we went to the Mr. Olympia to support Jay Cutler. It inspired me to do a show myself.

RX: Let's talk about your contest history. Your first show ever was the Jay Cutler Classic in May of this year?

Nina: Yes. That was the best weekend ever! My boyfriend proposed to me the day before the show and then I won my class and the overall! I was so excited and really surprised. And I definitely had sensory overload.

RX: Wow, you took the overall at your first figure competition ever! Did you expect to do so well?

Nina: It's pretty funny, actually. I wasn't really familiar with how shows are run or what the callouts mean. We were all standing on the stage and they called my name out. I thought: "Oh sweet! They called my name!" After pre-judging, my fiancé was so excited, he was like "you got this!" and I was like "whatever, he's just excited for me." He kept trying to explain to me that they put me in the middle to do comparisons, but I was really not getting it. Then I won my class and at the Overall they called my name out first and so I thought I was 5^th place. I was so excited to have gotten fifth, and I walked out to the center where they put the trophy and I started realizing they weren't calling any other names and it finally hit me - I'm FIRST! I won the overall! It was very surreal and all I could think about on the stage was how was I supposed to carry that huge trophy off the stage. Haha....

RX: Who trained you for that show?

Nina: My fiancé.

RX: Did he help you with your diet, too?

Nina: Nooooo...he didn't want anything to do with my diet. He didn't want that responsibility. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and that really complicates things for contest prep. I can't have high fibrous foods like oatmeal or brown rice.  So I got a nutritionist: Josh Brown. He has been phenomenal. I gave him the list of foods that I have to avoid, and that was when he said:"Well, it looks like the Dave Palumbo diet is going to be best for you."

RX: How many weeks out did you start your diet?

Nina: 14 weeks.

RX: And how did Dave's diet work for you?

Nina: It was AWESOME! I get really, really hard on Dave's diet. And it's perfect, because I can eat the foods on his plan.

RX: So then you went straight in to the Atlantic States?

Nina: Yeah. I had one cheat meal the night after the show and one cheat meal the next morning and then I was right back on the plan. Right after the show, Dave interviewed me and he asked me that question  - "So what's next for you?" and he got me thinking right away. I emailed him after the Jay Cutler Classic and told him I wanted to be successful in this sport. I asked him how I was supposed to get more exposure and go about doing the next show. That's when he suggested the Atlantic States. He said that there would be more competition there for me. I love Dave; he is always very honest and straight up with me and he is so willing to help.

RX: So how did you do at the Atlantic States?

Nina: I took 4^th in my class. Dave was right. The level of competition was much harder at this show than the last.

RX: Did you get any feedback from the judges?

Nina: Yes. It's funny - after the last show, the judges told me to work on my shoulders, that they looked a little flat. I know my shoulders really aren't lacking, so I decided that for the Atlantic States I'd try to carb load a little bit. So after this show, the judges told me that my shoulders, bi's and tri's were too big. Honestly, I think my legs just need to be brought up. I feel like they're lacking. I need calves and bigger quads.

RX: Then your next show was Jr. Nationals, right?

Nina: Yes. I took 4^th in my class again, and again the judges said that my shoulders and arms were borderline too big. For Jr. Nationals, I think my legs looked overtrained. I have been dieting since January 25^th.

RX: Geesh, that's a long time to be dieting.

Nina: Yeah, so after Jr. Nationals, I decided I wanted to do Team Universe, but it was definitely time for another cheat meal. Actually, I miscalculated how much time I had until Team Universe and I got this crazy idea to go off on a splurge for a couple of weeks. Then one day I started looking online at the show dates and I started freaking out! At that point I was only 10 weeks out! I checked my weight and it was up to about 120 lbs. because I was still doing my cardio. So I called Josh, and he asked me how much cardio I'd been doing. I told him I hadn't really backed off my cardio too much - I was still doing 50 minutes in the morning and 50 minutes in the evening. He thought I was crazy! He said: "If you think you're off season, then you're supposed to back your cardio way down!" He told me it was time to try to shock my body. He took my cardio out all together for about a week and he tweaked my diet. I think my weight got up to about 125 lbs. We got back on track, but I was worried at first. It was so hard to quit my cardio. Then we increased my cardio a lot more rapidly.

RX: What is your cardio up to right now?

Nina: I am doing 2 hrs and 20 minutes right now - an hour and 10 minutes in the morning and the same in the evening. I am 17 days out and I'm at 119/118 lbs. I'll step on stage around 115/116 lbs. so I'm right on track.

RX: After Team Universe, what do you plan to have for your cheat meal?

Nina: I've met a couple of competitors along the way, and we are planning to have dinner afterwards. It's been nice getting to know these girls. But I LOVE IHOP! I'll get either these pancakes with caramel and whipped cream - I can't remember what they call it right now, or I'll have a cheeseburger with onion rings and it will definitely be followed up by a chocolate brownie or a Chocolate Thunder from Down Under from Outback!! MMmmmmmm!

RX: Oooohh - I'm very familiar with the chocolate thunder! Yum!

RX: And then it will be time to rest the body?

Nina: Yes! I am so overtrained right now and I'm emotional sometimes. I have to thank my fiancé Kenny Champagne, for all the support he has given me. He brings me up when my tears start welling up. He's always there to encourage me and help me get through those days when I don't feel like going to the gym. You know, it's really hard to get up every morning and do all my cardio, then go to work all day, and go straight to the gym and weight train and then do another hour or more of cardio and then go home and make all my meals for the next day. By that time, it's like 11 o'clock at night and I'm so tired and I have to get up so early again to start it all over. It's just a lot sometimes. My body is definitely ready for a break. I will enjoy being in the off season and working on my body to make improvements. It's hard to make improvements when you're in season.

RX: Is there anyone else you want to thank?

Nina: Yes. Josh Brown, my nutritionist who spends hours every week on the phone with me just trying to boost me up mentally. He's awesome. And, of course, my family; everyone has been very supportive.

FULL PHOTO GALLERY

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