Growing up I competed in sports and enjoyed working out, which is why I chose to get a degree in Exercise Science. After getting my degree, I started my own business as a personal trainer and I was fortunate to train a very wide variety of clients (female, male, young and old from 9 years to 102 years). I did this for more than ten years, and then decided on a career change.
During this time I had my first daughter. It was an amazing and emotional experience. You never think you can love someone so much and then love yourself again after gaining 55lbs!
I tried to quickly lose the weight, but my habits weren’t so healthy. I was starving myself and doing tons of cardio, which means I lost weight, but felt awful. I had no energy, I was cranky, and I always seemed to be hungry. Three years later I was pregnant again and told myself I would not gain as much weight this time, but I ended up gaining more. The scale read 160 when I was one month along and when I looked two weeks before delivery, I was at 225, meaning I had gained at least 65lbs.
I wondered, “Holy smokes, how would I ever lose all that weight?” It was about a year after my second daughter’s birth that a great friend of mine started training for a figure competition. It motivated and inspired me to make a change. I started working out consistently, eating healthy and taking the right women’s supplements. I followed a training program from BuffMother.com, which is an online support resource. I believe it was a combination of everything that helped me to transform and transform quickly. I work out 6 days a week for 45-90 min max and eat 5 small meals a day. I also take a wide range of products from Complete Nutrition, from weight management, to creatine, to multivitamins.
Here’s an example of my typical day with supplements, diet, and exercise:
- Meal 1: 1 c. oatmeal w/ cinnamon and blueberries; 4 egg whites plus 1 whole egg scrambled
- Supplements: Complete Woman Multivitamin, Reclaim Joint, TONE, NX6, 3-in-1, Accelerator
- Workout:
- 5 min warm up
- Assisted pullups 3 x 6-8 reps
- Pulldowns: 3x 6
- Rows: 4 x 8
- One arm at a time pulldown: 3 x 6 each side
- Ez bar curl: 4 sets; 2 wide/2 narrow 6 reps
- Hammer curl: 3 x 6 reps
- Intervals on treadmill: 4 min warm up 8 intervals for 30 sec hard and 90 sec recovery; total of 20 minutes
- Meal 2: V-CORE protein shake with 2 scoops, 1 teaspoon of peanut butter, 1 teaspoon of glutamine, water and ice; blended
- Meal 3: Whole wheat tortilla with canned tuna, mayo, almond and celery
- Supplements: Complete Woman Multivitamin, NX6, 3-in-1, Accelerator
- Meal 4: Grilled chicken breast on spinach salad
- Supplements: TONE and Control
- Meal 5: Steak, asparagus with red pepper and sweet potato
Why am I sharing this? I hope I can motivate and inspire others to set their own fitness goals; whether it’s to lose weight, gain muscle, or just improve overall health. You might not want to compete, but I believe everyone wants to look better and feel better. I started in January of 2008, weighing 165lbs with 25% body fat. In February, by consistently working out, and following nutrition and supplement plans, my body began to change. After one month I had big changes, but by the end of May the transformation was huge; in fact, I competed in and won the Nebraska and Heartland Open figure classes. I weighed 137lbs with 17% body fat at competition time. It was not always easy, but it has always been worth the hard work and effort. I believe you can do it too when you make the choice to change!