“The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer. For me life is continuously being hungry.”

These are the words of former bodybuilder and Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger, who helped redefine bodybuilding as an international sport. For many professional and amateur bodybuilders, being hungry is not simply a motivational mantra, but a literal reality that regiments a lifestyle unique to this fastidious sport.

Amateur figure show competitor Alle Stauss, who recently won the title of Figure F Champion at the 2011 National Physique Committee (NPC) Northstar competition in Eden Prairie, Minn., eats six meals a day to feed the hunger that Schwarzenegger so astutely described. A strict diet is one of several lifestyle choices that have many wondering: is it worth it?

“I got tired of being average and looking average,” Stauss, 25, of Eau Claire, Wisc., said. Stauss has just finished her first full season as an amateur figure show competitor, which culminated with the NPC Northstar on Oct. 1, 2011. “I needed to change my lifestyle and step up to the plate,” she said.

The NPC is the exclusive host for International Federation of Body Building and Fitness (IFBB) pro qualifying events, allowing amateurs to compete for professional status. The NPC Northstar was the first big step in Stauss’s quest to be a professional figure show competitor after her success qualified her for Junior Nationals, which will be held in Chicago, Ill. in June 2012.

“When I first started I was lumpy and nobody took me seriously,” Stauss said of her 144 pound body, which yielded 20.8 percent body fat when her training began in Feb. 2011. Now her 5’7” frame is 134 pounds of muscle (minus water weight), boasting only 7.18 percent body fat. “People didn’t take me seriously but I trained harder and I saw results, so I just wanted to keep going and going.”

Stauss currently works in Eau Claire as a Patient Care Technician at Sacred Heart Hospital, a healthy supplement to her fitness-driven lifestyle.

However, the validity of bodybuilding as a sport has been highly scrutinized due to leniency in regulations regarding illigal suppliments, such as human growth hormone.

“Everybody has their own thing,” Stauss said. “Steroid use is not talked about; it’s a hush-hush thing. It’s not frowned upon, but it’s not promoted either. It’s just kind of like, ‘well, you look good.’”

Bodybuilding and figure showing requires a particular look, which makes it an extremely expensive venture. A custom-made bikini, which provides the typical costume for a figure competitor, may cost around $450 and is only the beginning of the spending.

“After I began training, I started to lose my body fat,” Stauss said, which is a motivation for many to undergo plastic surgery to get fake breasts, a several thousand dollar expense.

“It was a self esteem issue, but it also helps on stage and gives you the complete look. That’s why I chose to have the surgery.”

Stauss also bought fake nails and applied four coats of spray tan in preparation for the Northstar. Training, however, goes far beyond cosmetics. She adhered to a strict workout regimen that required two and a half hours of lifting and cardio each day, followed by a unique bathroom routine.

“I would pose a couple times a day,” Stauss said. “I would put my high heels on and stand in front of the bathroom mirror in a bra and underwear.”

Despite working a standard eight hour shift at the hospital, Stauss found the time for her workouts and also prepared the same six meals each day to facilitate a diet high in protein, fiber and carbohydrates.

“Breakfast consisted of six egg whites, one whole egg and a half cup of oatmeal,” Stauss said of her diet. “Meals two through four consisted of four ounces of chicken, a half cup of brown rice and a cup of broccoli. Meal five was a large salad with no dressing and four ounces of chicken, and the last meal was five egg whites and one whole egg, with exactly 16 almonds before bed.”

Stauss spends less time counting almonds and more time exploring a multitude of meal options now that she has begun a short off-season. Training for nationals won’t begin until the first of the year, which allows for more culinary freedom, but this flexibility has only caused dietary anxiety.

“The first time I went grocery shopping in eight months without having my list I hated it,” Stauss said. “I just wanted to put [the groceries] back and go get chicken. I freaked out.”

The obscurity and military efficiency of this schedule leaves little room for public understanding, confusing the difference between sport and fitness.

“My friends don’t necessarily get why I diet the way I diet and why I work out the way I do, but they have supported me,” Stauss said. “If I am ornery one day it’s because my carb count is really low. I’m not mad at you, I’m just quiet because I’m hungry.”

This may be the hunger the Schwarzenegger referenced, however he most likely alludes to the dedication and desire it takes to compete in such a physically demanding sport.

“I definitely get a lot of people looking at me like I’m crazy when I’m at the gym and I’m rowing my body weight,” Stauss said. “But when I put up heavy weight and throw the dumbbells to the ground after a set, it’s like I just worked hard and killed it. Sometimes it’s better than an orgasm.”

Despite the obvious rigors of bodybuilding, many find it difficult to accept the competition as sport. Bodybuilding is not recognized in the Olympics, but the IFBB is recognized in many International Olympic Committee events such as the World Games and the Pan American Games. However the personal satisfaction of this lifestyle keeps Stauss motivated.

“I have people looking at me like, ‘who is this girl?’” Stauss said. “I’d rather be that girl than the fat girl on the tread mill walking at two miles an hour and out of breath.” That is the hunger that motivates Stauss to achieve and conquer.