Report From the Stage

Recovery Beyond staff member, Jenn Boudreau, competed at the recent 40th Anniversary Emerald Cup Bodybuilding & Fitness Expo. Jenn, a seasoned bodybuilding competitor, was no stranger to the Emerald Cup.

After three thwarted attempts at joining the competition due to injury, pregnancy, and coaching, the 2017 Emerald Cup was previously her final appearance in the bodybuilding arena. “I’ve never put so much effort into anything in my life,” says Jenn, “Before, if I didn’t win my world was shattered. Now, my self worth is no longer tied to my placing.”

Bodybuilding helped Jenn maintain her substance use recovery. The gym was a space where she was surrounded by others who weren’t focused on drinking. “My first attempt at prep was my first attempt at sobriety as well,” she explains.

Growing Through the Years

Prior to taking the stage, the 2022 Emerald Cup proved different from previous years competitions.

As Jenn prepared to go before the judges, she noticed a shift in her mentality, “I think when I was younger, I was always fighting with my body and felt like I was trying to ‘punish’ it to get it to do what I wanted. This prep was more like coaxing it, and trusting that it was going to get there, even in the first few weeks of prep when I was still adding muscle so I didn’t see the scale move.”

This mindset translated to the competition stage. In previous years, Jenn struggled with the ever-changing standards of perfection. Bodybuilding judging is subjective. Competitors train to look a certain way, then might find the judges prefer a different body-type all together.

Striving for contrasting versions of the perfect physique took a toll on Jenn, “After so much internal turmoil of never being enough or never being good enough, and an injury, I put up my heels. Going on stage this time [in the 2022 Emerald Cup] I was in love with my body, I didn’t care how I measured up against the other girls, and I didn’t see one person who made me feel like I wasn’t good enough. I felt this not because everybody else wasn’t competitive or in shape, I just really liked my body and it had come through for me exactly on time, performed exactly how I needed it to and I was grateful for it.”

Overlap of Recovery and Training

Recovery Beyond is proud of the determination, commitment, and intention Jenn puts into all areas of her life. T

here are parallels between recovery from substance use disorders (SUDs) and training for a fitness event; it takes time, it can be painful, and it can be hard to trust the process.

Jenn explains, “Recovery from SUD requires that you do things that are uncomfortable, you have to force yourself to do things when you don’t feel like doing them and when it might even hurt to do them. Fitness, training for something in particular, is very good practice for the things you need to do to recover. You have to follow a workout plan/treatment plan. It hurts sometimes in the beginning (early sobriety is often painful) and you are sore and tired afterwards (completing the 12 steps or talking with a peer support counselor can have a similar effect emotionally you feel raw and exhausted).

The biggest difference is that fitness has tangible, measurable and visible results. You can see the transformation occurring and you get stronger and daily activities become easier.

When you realize that you can push through the pain, and the results are beyond what you ever thought you could obtain, a confidence and sense of pride or accomplishment develops. This often translates into other walks of life.

It’s easier for someone who has trained 16 weeks for something and knows that the results at the end of it are phenomenal, to push through the pain of recovery steps, where often there are no visible results, and trust that at the end of 16 weeks they will have accomplished something worth the pain.”

Recovery Beyond, a local non-profit that facilitates healthy lifestyle and social support activities for people in recovery, is proud to sponsor Jenn Boudreau at the 40th Anniversary Emerald Cup Bodybuilding & Fitness Expo from April 29th-30th. Jenn, a seasoned bodybuilding competitor, is no stranger to the Emerald Cup. After three thwarted attempts at joining the competition due to injury, pregnancy, and coaching, the 2017 Emerald Cup was her final appearance in the bodybuilding arena. Now, she’s coming back to the same stage to revisit a goal she set for herself many years ago. “I’ve never put so much effort into anything in my life,” says Jenn, Recovery Beyond staff member and bodybuilding competitor. “Before, if I didn’t win my world was shattered. Now, my self worth is no longer tied to my placing.”

Bodybuilding helped Jenn maintain her substance use recovery. The gym was a space where she was surrounded by others who weren’t focused on drinking. “My first attempt at prep was my first attempt at sobriety as well,” she explains. “If I had had this group [Recovery Beyond] at the last Emerald Cup I probably would have won. I took second place in two divisions [at the 2017 Emerald Cup] and not because I didn’t have the physique but because I couldn’t stop drinking during that prep. I’m positive if I had not been drinking at all in that prep, I probably would’ve won…I’m coming back knowing that [drinking] won’t be the thing that stops me.”

Jenn recalls conversations she had with fellow competitors while working a Recovery Beyond booth at a bodybuilding event earlier this year. “[They] secretly wanted to make sure no one was listening to us and whispered, ‘I’m in recovery too.’ I told them literally every single person who has come to the booth has said that to us. They were baffled. They were falling over like, ‘What really? There are other people who like bodybuilding who are in recovery as well?’ They couldn’t believe it. It was great to be able to bring it to the competitors’ attention that most of them were in recovery.”

Recovery Beyond hopes that sponsoring Jenn will create awareness of substance use disorder and spread the word that there is a recovery community that enjoys fitness and healthy lifestyle activities as a pathway for recovery. Megan Fisher, the new Executive Director for Recovery Beyond, a person in long-term recovery, and an advocate for stigma reduction, shares what fitness did for her recovery. “I was close to two years abstinent from alcohol, but couldn’t put down the cigarettes. I got involved in a running group through my church and ended up slowly training for the Chicago Marathon. Every day, as I worked through my run/walk cycle, I reminded myself that a cigarette would destroy my goal. The community of supportive friends who had a common purpose drove me to keep showing up. I ran that marathon, I’m 14 years sober, and I’ve been smoke-free ever since!”

Mark Adams joins Recovery Beyond as the Director of Programs.

Recovery Beyond is excited to welcome Mark Adams as the Director of Programs. Mark brings over 20 years of experience creating and leading programs, experiences, and communities that teach and guide people toward more natural and joyful health as a way of living. Mark has a doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University, a master’s degree in Exercise & Sport Science from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and an undergraduate degree from Harvard University. In 2005, he co-founded ONVO, a boutique whole body health community in the Bellevue-Seattle area that attracted more than 5,000 clients during its decade-plus existence.

Mark has a deep commitment to nurturing healthy lifestyles for others. He shares his vision for the role, “I hope to help bring an optimistic and holistic recovery lifestyle to our programs and, most importantly, to the lives of our participants. The reality is I constantly think about health and wholeness. The passionate ‘why’ of my career has precisely been about helping people live better, healthier lives in a more holistic, natural, and joyful way. My driving question for folks is, ‘Can you live it?’”

Mark found his way to Recovery Beyond through good friends who introduced him to the organization’s founder, Mark Ursino. After hearing the history of Recovery Beyond, Mark Adams was driven to support the mission. He hopes to facilitate healthy lifestyle activities in meaningful and lasting ways. He explains, “I would like to see Recovery Beyond grow as an active community that is known for its sense of family and a true spirit of living that animates and emboldens our programs and people!”

Originally from Indiana, Mark now resides in Issaquah with his three sons and 125-pound dog. He loves hiking, camping, and swimming in the PNW rivers and lakes. He and his sons collect their own local spring water for drinking and cooking.

Megan’s career in the substance use disorder (SUD) sphere began 11 years ago in a residential treatment program on the West side of Chicago. She describes, “It was a very rewarding first job in the field, but I did experience the first loss of a client. I still have a stuffed tiger that he picked out for me on a treatment outing to the local zoo as a reminder of how deadly this disease can be.” She then worked as a counselor in a prison treatment program and found great compassion and fondness for the men as they grew in their recovery. In this position, she began to develop managerial skills and became the Director of Addiction Services. Most recently, she worked for Community Mental Health Centers in program development and operations, grant management, community engagement, and strategic collaboration at the state and national levels.

Lived experience with SUD led Megan to this line of work. She explains, “It was my personal journey in recovery that brought me to this field. Having come back from near-death and almost losing my child in the grips of substance use, it became a passion of mine to bring recovery resources and intimate connection to people caught in the miserable cycle of substance use. In my own recovery path, I discovered how beneficial physical activity is to my mental and emotional well-being. I also realized how much a healthy lifestyle community can be a bedrock for recovery stability. I live the mission of Recovery Beyond in my own recovery world and I am ecstatic to be a part of an organization that introduces and sustains these opportunities for others.”

It’s with this passion for getting together, for physical activity, and for sharing resources that Megan approaches the Executive Director role and emulates the vision of Recovery Beyond. She says, “We have all heard that substance use disorder is really a hole in our heart, something missing that we are trying to fill. That hole is connection – relationship. We get together to develop that community which will be our support and for whom we can be of service.” In addition to relationships and service, Megan is enthusiastic about anything active – from caving to hiking to boxing. She describes fitness as her number one meditation tool, “I feel most present and in the moment when I am physically involved, whatever the specific activity. I also stay engaged in support meetings and connect with others in recovery. Prayer and journaling are consistent practices of mine as well.”

Looking towards the future of Recovery Beyond, her vision is not only to create a diversity of activities for members to choose from but to expand the expedition element as well. This means more long-term goal-setting opportunities such as the Seattle to Portland ride and multi-day mountaineering trips. You’ll see an expansion of activities that, with consistent participation and commitment, will lead directly to large-challenge opportunities.

The power of Recovery Beyond is not just the mountain summit; it’s the human connections that are forged in hard work, discomfort, and commitment. Community building and relationships are cornerstones of the Recovery Beyond model. Megan sums it up, “We get together so that someone knows me well enough to see in my eyes when I am hurting and need a kind word. We get together to create memories of joy and zest so that we always remember that recovery is about allowing us to live life to its fullest. We get together because we are human and, at our core, we need companionship, understanding, love.”

We are thrilled to have Megan on the team. She brings great experience, perspective, and enthusiasm to the role. As someone who loves to make the most out of every opportunity, her thirst for life and adventure is infectious. This zealousness for the new and exciting will be a powerful addition to Recovery Beyond. We will be having a meet-and-greet with Megan on Sunday, January 23th, join us by signing up on our website calendar.