Personal Info
How I Started
I have always been active my entire life, mostly through sports during my childhood and through high school. I became a mom to a wonderful little boy, was working full time, taking college classes at night, and would go to the gym 3-4 times a week. I joined several classes at the gym and hired trainers here and there and although the workouts kicked my butt, I never saw huge changes in my body- I just didn't get it. Once my husband came back from deployment in 2012, we moved our family to our first duty station, therefore I was leaving my 40+ hour a week job and had a lot more free time on my hands, this is where the real journey began for me. My husband actually told me about bodybuilding.com and that I should go there to look at workouts and learn more about the gym and exercising. I then discovered Jamie Eason and loved her and knew that I wanted to not only get fit but start a new lifestyle in health and fitness. I completed Jamie's 12 Week LiveFit Trainer and fell in love with weight lifting. Over the course of the year I continued lifting weight in the gym and thoroughly enjoyed it; but I still didn't see the changes that I was desiring in my body. I actually got to my heaviest point ever in my life (other than pregnancy) of 129 lbs... this is when it all set in for me and I knew there had to be something I wasn't doing right! In January of 2013 I decided to put in time and really learn my body- what it thrived off of and what it didn't, I also completely changed my diet and started logging my workouts. This is when I got my results! Over the next several months people would always come up to me asking me for workout tips and advice and help with nutrition and recipes and complimenting me on my transformation, it was at this time that I knew that I wanted to become a Personal Trainer and really be able to learn even more about conducting a healthy lifestyle and helping others achieve their goals in fitness along the way. Also around this time a friend asked me if I ever thought about competing in figure competitions, and the answer was simple- no- because I hadn't ever heard of them! So this sparked another interest and I began researching on the topic. I decided to compete in a local military show 5 weeks out from showtime and ended up coming in 2nd place out of several amazing competitors. It was at this time I knew what it was that I was meant to do, it is literally like a fire started within, I already loved the working out aspect of it, but I really fell in love with the feeling of what such hard work, dedication, and determination bring you as well as falling in love with the stage. I knew then and there that was just the beginning for me and I couldn't wait to compete again. About 6 months later I competed in Fitness Universe Paris, giving myself 12 weeks of actual training time. I competed in three different divisions for this competition because as a newbie to the world of competitions I wanted to see where my body came in at in each division. I ended up placing among the top five in each division: 2nd place in bikini, 4th place in figure, and 5th place in fitness model. Again, this competition left me with even more of a burning fire within. Since then, I dove into the NPC world and competed in two NPC shows this past summer (2014), one being the Lenda Murray, and placed among top 5 at both shows, qualifying for Nationals! Currently, I plan to train for a National show for the summer of 2015 and in the meantime keep myself busy with clients and helping them work towards their goals!
Why I Love it
Bodybuilding/Working Out is rewarding on so many levels it is impossible to explore them all, but for me the things I can say I love the most is the feeling it gives you after you've completed your workout, the amazing, supportive, and inspiring people you meet along the way, and the feeling of achievement when your hard work begins to show through. There is no other feeling than looking in the mirror and being proud of how far you've come. I always tell people that when they look in the mirror, it is fine to keep in mind of how much further you want to go but to always remember how far you've come and to simply love the skin you're in, it is so important. I also love how supportive and inspirational people become when they live a healthy lifestyle; to me, it is like a circle- people come to me and tell me how much I inspire them, when in reality they are the ones inspiring me, just so rewarding to all.