Luckily for me, I got started bodybuilding when I was in high school gym class. It was then that I picked up my first Muscle and Fitness magazine and saw the likes of Cory Everson, Rachel McLish and Lenda Murray. I was in awe! I began training and found that my body responded well to weightlifting. When I got to college, the gym was much nicer than my high schools gym, but still not enough. So I found a gym that I fell in love with and went every morning and many times nights.

It gives me strength, clarity and helps me focus. I realize that even more now because I have not been able to train in quite a while. in 2001, I began a 12 year battle with endometrial cancer. Because it is such a little known about cancer, I was given treatment after treatment, which included tons of steroids, hormones and more. The result, a weight gain of over 70lbs! The tumor I had was so troublesome that weight training would lead to hemorrhaging. Add to that a severe anemia disorder that left me completely exhausted, and in 2012, I had to have 12 blood transfusions. August 2012 I had a hysterectomy, and now for the first time in 12 years, I am able to truly look forward to life. The one thing I could not wait to get back to is weight training.