Lori Hess

Female

36

Haleiwa, Hawaii, United States

Owner of Diva Exchange Classifieds, a website where fitness and figure competitors can buy and sell their gently used competition items (ie: suits, routine costumes, shoes, music, etc.)

Making the Co-Ed Cheerleading team in college got my butt into the gym... I remember... the name of the gym was Herb & Bernies...with that name, I was one of the only females working out there. Being too tall to be thrown into the air, I was put in place to throw the girls with the guys - I wanted to be strong enough in fear of dropping someone. (I never dropped anyone.) I saw my first fitness competition on ESPN in 1995 - "Wow," I thought, "I could never do that..." 4 years later I found myself on the exact stage in the Fitness America Pageant Finals that I saw on TV back in '95! What an incredible feeling!! Since then, I've competed in several competitons and organizations... always making it to the top finals and placing in the top percentile.

I LOVE working out for many reasons - it's fuel, it's energy, it's looking great! It's time that I can give myself. I LOVE the discipline involved getting ready for a fitness competition. My whole life feels more organized and the feeling of accomplishment is amazing.

Currently, I'm working on getting my pre-baby body back! Kai Aiden Hess was born right at home on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii on June 8th, 2007. His father, Aaron, took one look at his feet and said he had great "deck grippers" - the next pro surfer has arrived! Moving from the big city of Chicago, where I had the pick of gyms, to the country of the North Shore, has put a challenge in working out since the closest gym is 30 minutes away. Everything is about the outdoors here. I'm getting pretty creative to working out in the sand (which is better than ANY stair climber in a gym!) and getting into the water... surfing is improving... great core work. I'm learning that it's just as good, if not better, of a workout being outside than lifting a pair of dumbbells (those are still a staple at home for now until Kai gets old enough to head to the gym with. My motivation is to compete again in fall of 2008.

This next accomplishment with getting my pre-baby body back will be my biggest accomplishment - I gained 60 pounds!! I've never been this heavy - and to train for competition - it's going to take a lot longer than a few months!! I think I'm going to post pictures and blog my progress for myself and others to view. If that's not motivation...

divaexchangeclassifeds.com Diva, Lori