Shannan

Female

33

Creator and Formulator of QUEST Protein Bars

Jul, 1993

From a young age I wanted to be athletic and look that way. So, at 15 I asked my mom join me up at her gym and from there it was a love affair between me and the iron. I worked out whenever I could and became commited to the fact that we are in control of our bodies and we can shape and mold them to be whatever we want. I loved that I could make myself stronger and challenge myself. By 16 years old I got my first certification from IFPA and trained a few moms that I babysat for. I loved training people and teaching them how they can transform their bodies. I read everything I could and learned even more over the years by becoming my own guinea pig, trying everything out on myself first. I got my next certifications at 19 and 24 from ACE and NASM while I had been working full time as an independent personal trainer at an LA Fitness and an LA Workout gym. Training was the best thing that ever happened to me. I learned so much along the way.

The truth is, I love bodybuilding because it is for ME and me alone. It feels natural to me, as if it's in my blood. It's MY time to be strong, to be in the zone and make changes. I do it because it makes me feel whole and good on the inside as well as the outside. The confidence and comfort I feel in clothes and in my own skin makes it worth every grueling rep. I love it because it gives me a healthy long life to live, pain free and injury free. I am also very motivated by the mental changes in me when I am lean and strong. It changes my attitude positively towards everything and when I am happy (and I always am) I want to do more and learn more and BE more. I feel invincible (though I know I'm not) and that's a good enough feeling I could never stop.

Age is a number my friends, means nothing unless you let it mean something. I want to be better with each day than I was the day before. I want to be consistant and always do a little more than I think I possibly can. I stay motivated by looking for new things that I can't do and learning to do them... Or, sometimes just by bettering my time on a run. I'm also inspired by failure. The process of defeat... Picking yourself back up again is the hardest thing in the world. I am motivated by CHALLENGES... Challenge yourself as often as you can, it's the best medicine you can find. I also stay motivated by the goals I set for myself. Sometimes they are weekly goals and other times they are monthly goals. Whether I compete or not, "My body is my trophy"... so that's what keeps me going. I love competing when I do, it's an amazing accomplishment to get up on stage and know that I worked hard for it and that I belong up there regardless of my placing. It sounds cheesy to say, but it's about the journey, the path you follow, and the things you do and learn along the way that makes the biggest impact.

My 3rd place win out of 11 girls at my very first show, The Tournament of Champions in 2006 which qualified me to compete at The Arnold Classic Amateurs in 2007 where I placed 9th out of 26 women were fun and amazing accomplishments. What an eye opening experience and so much fun!! My most important accomplishment was training myself on how to look for and choose very clean and healthy foods at restaurants. Learning to eat well for the long term and not just for a few weeks at a time or, during contest-prep. Once I learned how to eat out with my friends and family I realized that I didn't have to sacrifice my time with them OR my contest diet. Learning how everything I put into my body has a reaction and response, and will show itself in my performance as well as my physique made me put the breaks on eating the weekend junk foods. Truly realizing I have control over how I feel and that eating unhealthy foods will have consequences made the urge to eat them less strong. Don't get me wrong, I have the so called "cheat foods" every now and again but my focus is on performance, health and being lean and feeling good so, it's an every few weeks to once a month type of thing ;) Since then I have created my own line of protein bars called because there was nothing on the market that I could eat while in contest prep... Now there is QUEST. I eat them all the time to help get that meal in when I can't cook or just don't want another chicken breast :)

Shannan 'Fortudine Vincimus'- 'By Endurance We Conquer'