Janet Guenther – Ageless! – Diabetic college professor is top national physique contender

Mae West, the great film star of the 1930s and 40s, was once asked her age; the master of sexual innuendo said, “Honey, it ain’t the age – it’s the mileage!” Take a close look at the accompanying photos of Janet Guenther; if there is a better built 59 year old woman on the face of the planet we haven’t seen her. With Janet, it ain’t the age, it’s the mileage and Janet is the physical equivalent of a pristine 1966 Sting Ray Corvette coupe with 14,000 original miles on the odometer.

This ageless lady is no one-dimensional iron pumper: she is a college professor and an educator whose

Janet Guenther

job it is to council American youth on how best to battle obesity and how best to obtain, retain or regain fitness, health and vitality. Ms. Guenther is a voice of fitness sanity in a wilderness of fitness lunacy. Janet is also one of the nation’s leading drug free female bodybuilders over the age of 50. She exemplifies an old and decidedly out of style ideal in that she combines beauty with brains. Eternally upbeat, her attitude towards life and living is manifest in her 100 watt smile. Ms. Guenther exudes feline feminine physicality; she has confidence, intelligence and a subtle sensuality that comes from pure passion for what she does; she possesses what the French call joie de vie – a zest for life and living. If all this weren’t enough there is another truly amazing factoid regarding Janet Guenther: she is a Type I diabetic and uses an insulin pump to keep her blood sugar levels under control 24-7-365. Janet related that she deals with diabetes on a never ending basis. “The only time I disconnect my insulin pump is when I stride onstage to pose in a competition.”

Janet Guenther has discovered how to hold back the hands of time. Her secret is rooted in a classical approach towards bodybuilding. She combines Parrillo-inspired nutrition and supplementation with decidedly out-of-fashion old school ideals steeped in discipline, hard work and sustained application. We caught up with the ageless wonder-woman while she was deep in preparation for yet another bodybuilding competition; in eight weeks time she would be battling once again, this time in two successive shows on two successive weekends. Janet Guenther hasn’t been beaten in the over 50 division in the tough Pacific Northwest bodybuilding circuit in almost four years. “I love training. I love competing and I see me continuing to do both far into the foreseeable future.” People are taken aback when they see her in the flesh: she looks decades younger than her chronologic reality. Those seeing Janet up close and personal are doubly dumbfounded when they learn that she is a Type I diabetic. “Being diabetic is not synonymous with being debilitated. I decided way back when, when I first found out that I was a diabetic (she was 28) that I would never allow diabetes to rule my life. There is an old saying that I live by: ‘Get over it then get on with it.’ That pretty well sums up my attitude towards my diabetic condition; I refuse to be brought down by diabetes. I use diet and exercise to counteract diabetic negative effects. It is flat out amazing what can be done to control blood sugar levels using completely natural methods: intense exercise, the expert use of regular food, the expert use of nutritional supplementation. Combine hard work in the gym with precise nutrition (a little luck, a whole lot of blessings) and nearly all the negative aspects of the diabetic condition can be neutralized.”

Janet lives in Edmonds, Washington. She grew up as a “farm girl tomboy” and learned the meaning of hard work early on; she grew up lean, tough and athletic. Janet played sports in college. She took up competitive bodybuilding as a natural offshoot of her sport-related weight training. “I naturally gravitated towards bodybuilding. I have my degree and post-graduate degree in physical education. I have always been involved in sports. When my college athletic career was over, it seemed natural to take up bodybuilding.” Janet was looking for more than “some body toning and light training a few times a week.” Janet sought a new outlet for her natural competitive tendencies. “I needed an avenue to compete. Having just been diagnosed as a diabetic, I could no longer run half marathons. I took a hard look at the then embryonic sport of female bodybuilding and said, ‘Gee, this looks like an athletic undertaking that would allow me to meld training and nutrition and simultaneously keep my blood sugars under control.” Janet had a “hard and muscular farm girl physique” when she started bodybuilding thirty years ago. She commenced her bodybuilding odyssey with a great base physique and just kept getting better and better with each successive competitive season. Nowadays, after decades of immersion in the bodybuilding lifestyle, Janet is lean and healthy and formidable. “When they do my blood work, I’m stacked up as “normal” or “better than normal” in nearly every category. I have none of the nerve damage that 90% of diabetics experience. My goal all along has been to duplicate the blood sugar levels of a normal person by manipulating insulin.” She has accomplished that difficult physiological undertaking to a remarkable and consistent degree.

“Lots and lots of people can work out. Lots of people can work out hard. It is the precise attention to diet and the precise attention to nutritional supplementation that enables a person to spark a truly radical physical transformation.” Dietary manipulation is doubly important for this diabetic bodybuilder. “Nutrition is more than 50% of success in bodybuilding; nutrition is critical in the battle against obesity and in my case nutrition has been the key in controlling diabetes.” Janet shares her vast storehouse of accumulated knowledge with her students: she has been a college professor for decades. She teaches a college class known as “P250” that she describes as, “How to get in shape and how to stay in shape for the rest of your life.” Her self-designed course deals with bodily biochemistry and how things work at the cellular level. “I use a classroom analogy that compares the human body to a state-of-the-art, high performance sports car. In its optimal state the human body is the physiological equivalent of a racing Ferrari. A Ferrari is designed to run on high octane fuel. The human body is designed to run on high octane food. Never run a Ferrari on garbage fuel and never run the human body on trash food.  You should never deprive the high performance automobile or the human body of a continual flow of food/fuel.” Low glycemic foods form the bedrock of Janet’s nutritional philosophy. Janet personally fuels her bodily Ferrari nearly every hour.  Parrillo products, the various Parrillo protein powders, bars and engineered foods, provide the perfect food/fuel “additives” for Janet’s “nutrient-dense diet.” “I recommend ‘normal people’ eat every 2-3 hours. For optimal control of my diabetic condition, I find it easier and more efficient to ‘fuel up’ every hour on the hour. By combining hourly feedings with the insulin pump, I am able to fine tune my blood sugar to an infinitesimal degree.”

In the off-season Janet weighs 145 pounds and eats 2,000+ calories per day – hardly starvation eating. “I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner plus two morning ‘supplement/snack meals’ and two more snack meals in the afternoon. I will eat another snack/meal before bed.” Altogether Janet eats eight or nine times every day. Janet competes regularly. “I will be competing on two successive weekends in September and October of 2009. First off I will be in a bodybuilding show in Spokane, Washington and the following weekend I am entering an annual Northwest bodybuilding competition called, ‘The Iron Man.’” Janet especially loves the Iron Man show because it is a natural, drug-free competition and always draws the finest physiques in the Pacific Northwest region. “I have captured the open division at past Iron Man championships and I intend on being in tiptop shape for both of these shows.” Being a perfectionist, Janet was retroactively underwhelmed by her physical condition at her most recent competition, the Emerald Cup bodybuilding championships held this past April. “I was a bit disappointed at not winning the overall title in the master’s division. After every competition I look at photos and a video of myself taken at the prejudging and finals. I always use a cold eye and look for flaws and areas in need of improvement. At the time, I thought a good case could have been made that I should have been declared the winner: after reviewing the Emerald Cup photos and videos I realized why I had lost. At the evening show I pulled in too much water. I likely ate too many carbs and over-salted. I was ‘puffy’ at the evening show. I definitely did not look as good later in the day as I had that morning. When I saw the photos taken that night, I thought, ‘Now I see why I got beat (by an excellent competitor!) for the overall title.’ At this level, competing against fantastic women, you must bring your ‘A’ game if you expect to win. Being slightly off, I was relegated to second place and deservedly so.”

Janet offers some “life advice” for readers. “Life isn’t fair and once you accept that inconvenient fact of life, the next fact I try to instill is the idea that anyone can achieve whatever they want. Use what you’ve been given and go from there. Don’t let society, friends, family or outside influences determine your limitations. As far as your physical limitations, seize control of your own destiny! Bodybuilding offers average people a way in which to transform their physical being and in doing so transform their own self-image. Many average people feel bodybuilding is some sort of weird subculture and when they see extreme examples of bodybuilding professionals, they can’t embrace that look, especially the physiques of the professional women bodybuilders. The average woman could benefit from adopting the Iron lifestyle – yet they have an unfounded fear of developing too much muscle – as if it were that easy! I truly believe that the bodybuilding community could and should have a positive impact on the average person’s fitness. But this would take major changes; we would need to pull things back around to a “natural” look.  Bodybuilding is the finest method known for transforming the human body. Don’t sell yourself short and don’t limit yourself.  I am a teacher first and foremost. I love helping people of all ages get into shape and stay in shape. I instruct individuals on not only how to improve their body, but why the body responds to what we do. I expect my successful students to go out and spread the fitness word; if we all work together we can make this world more fit! Finally, I love each and every day. I get utmost satisfaction from helping people make positive physical changes. I don’t think you can really enjoy life unless you are fit and healthy.” Amen to that.

Janet Guenther’s Training Split

Monday Lats, back & abdominals

Tuesday Legs: focus on hamstrings

Wednesday Chest

Thursday Biceps, triceps, shoulders, abdominal

Friday Legs: emphasis on quads, abdominals

Saturday Off

Sunday Off

Cardio Split

Monday 70 minute spin class

Tuesday 60 minutes of cardio ARC training or 60 minutes running stairs

Wednesday 70 minute spin class

Thursday 60 minutes using the AMT trainer or 60 minutes running stairs

Friday 70 minute spin class

Saturday 60 minutes running stadium stairs

Sunday 60 minutes running stadium stairs

Multiple Meal Schedule

4:30 am Diabetic testing and medication

Parrillo Hi-Protein^™ shake, Mineral-Electrolyte^™, Liver Amino^™, Vitamins^™

7 am 2/3 cup oatmeal

8 am 4 egg whites with non-fat cheese

9 am Hi-Protein^™ shake: 20 grams of protein with some simple carbs

11 am 4 oz. chicken breast/ cup steamed veggies

2 pm Hi-Protein^™ Shake, 20 grams, Parrillo Pudding^™ and nuts

4 pm Light snack including protein and carbs

6 pm Tilapia fish, steamed veggies, high fiber tortilla, salad

9 pm Evening supplements and medication, Parrillo Liver Amino^™

I eat Parrillo Protein bars^™, Parrillo Cake^™ with Protein Frosting^™; the Parrillo engineered foods keep me sane when preparing for a competition! On occasion I may have more protein before bed…perhaps I’ll take in some slow-release carbs to keep my blood sugars level throughout the night. I’m more ‘easy going’ about my food selections when I’m not ripping down for a competition. I try to stay within 5 to 8 pounds of my contest weight year round so I have to be pretty strict. At my age, and being diabetic, it is very difficult to shed fat so I try to walk (or should I say eat’) a fine line!