Iron Girl Adventures…My Road to Pro!

Transformations are a HOT topic these days! 6 Week…8 Week…12 Week Transformations! We ALL want to SEE with our own eyes drastic changes that can be made that INSPIRE change within ourselves! I am a HUGE proponent of transformations (as long as they are legitimate), because they show REAL people, with REAL lives, who make REAL change!

Transformations often show the physical weight loss or muscle gain over a period of time. However, what it doesn’t show is the mental, emotional and psychological change that this person underwent. It is often that most people who undergo significant transformations, additionally experience serious mental and psychological changes…more often for the better!

So…on a personal level…I have been through a NUMBER of transformations in my life! To start, my original transformation was one from being SEVERELY unhealthy (physically, psychologically, emotionally) basically on ALL levels. If you’ve read earlier blog posts of mine, then you know more about these bod habits of mine. However, in 2009, my life changed and I chose to make better, healthy habits! It was at the time that I walked into a gym and found health and fitness for the FIRST time as an adult at the age of 32! I stepped on stage for the FIRST time in NPC Bikini in 2010 and later in 2011 gave birth to my daughter! I came back to competing in 2014 and later in 2016 had won a total of 15 Top 5 awards including the 2016 Governors Cup Novice Overall in Figure.

This is a “Transformation Tuesday” post that I have pondered sharing for a bit. But, honestly, I didn’t have the courage, as I have found that social media has been a bit harsh and critical lately! Often, we only post our “BEST” moments in fear of others judgments and critical statements! And being on social media has a way of, at times, of making you feel like you need to RISE to your VERY BEST all the time! There is something vulnerable in showing yourself at your worst moments!

Then, I thought…if I could learn something from this “transformation” or experience, then, just maybe, someone else could too! SO…here you go!  Here is a “POST-Show Transformation”…

The First shot is days before I stepped on stage at Nationals 2017. The middle is roughly 6 Weeks Post-Show. And the last is obviously a couple weeks ago!

To explain…when we compete, we treat our bodies with an IMMENSE amount of respect! We train ridiculously hard; eat only the cleanest food, drink more water than can be imagined and everything is a SCIENCE! It is timed perfectly and just for our bodies specifically!  And then we hit the stage! It’s the days after where for ME…everything goes down the tubes! There is something called REVERSE DIETING that I have yet to master!

After literally months (sometimes upward of 8 months straight) of respecting my body, I will throw everything out of the window and eat whatever I want for a couple weeks post-show! I STILL continue to train HARD and on schedule! However, this past show, you can visually SEE the effect of what it did to my body! I held about 10-13 extra pounds in water, mainly in lower abdominal bloat!

I actually thought something was medically wrong with me. I saw every doctor under the sun, had blood work done and suffered though many months of THIS! I had multiple people inquire and CONGRATULATE me on my pregnancy (which OBVIOUSLY was not the situation)!  I was DEVASTED!

So…when the doctors told me that they had no idea what was causing this lower abdominal bloat…I really only had one option, but to address it myself. SO, I removed any bloating vegetables from my diet and I STOPPED using all of my supplements: protein powder, fat burners, BCAAs, fish oil, ALL of it! I stopped EVERYTHING and started with a clean slate!

About a week later, I went to a bachelorette party for my cousin in Monterey, and I had the BEST massage! I spent the day drinking a TON of water, sweating in the sauna and just relaxing! It was WONDERFUL! Days after THAT…I started dropping water weight like CRAZY!!! It was insane! It DAWNED on me…RECOVERY, RECOVERY, RECOVERY!!

So, for my current prep, I’m OBSESSED with all types of recovery! From chiropractic…to massage therapy…to cryotherapy…to sweating in the sauna…to active release…to cupping (which I want to try)…to ALL kinds of foam/ball rolling! I ABOUT it ALL! I mean, it makes SENSE! When training SO HARD…you NEED to recover!

I hold regular inflammation, and all of these things help! They also assist in the prevention of injury! But…I have ALSO learned that I need to respect my body post-competition JUST as must as I do while prepping, so I can avoid feel like THIS again! It’s ALL a learning experience and NOW, hopefully, I learned what NOT to do!

So…keep sharing those transformations! I LOVE seeing them! They inspire ME! And…you never know who is reading your story and who your touching!

It’s Been About a Year and a Half Since I Posted to my Blog, and Time Has Gotten Away From Me! BUT…I’m BACK!! 👋🏼☺️ Much Has Happened, and I’ve Been Getting the Itch to Start Putting to Paper (or Internet😉) More Thoughts and Experiences As I Go Through Life!

I Can Share All the Pictures and Selfies Known to Man on IG…But, Often I Feel my Content There Gets Lost in the Shuffle. The Thought and Ideas I Have That Are Meant To INSPIRE Are Simply Skimmed Over For a Meaningless “Like!” Here…I Can Write Down the PROCESS…the FEELINGS…and, If They Inspire You…Then, Just Touching ONE Person Is Enough! 🤗

So, As Today Is the Spring Time Change, and my Daughter Got Up at the CRACK of Dawn, I Have a Little Extra Time To Sit Down and Start This While She Occupies Herself!

Just As a Jumping Off Point…Since my Last Post in June of 2016, I Have Competed in Two National Shows:

NPC Pittsburgh Teen, Collegiate, and Masters Nationals 2016 in 35+ in Which I Placed 8th:

NPC Pittsburgh Teen, Collegiate, and Masters Nationals 2017 in 35+ and 40+ in Which I Placed 9th and 10th Respectively:

I Took a Long Off Season, Following This Last Show in 2017 in order to Allow my Body Some Recovery and Growth (I Will Discuss This In a Later Post)! I Am Just Now Beginning my 2018 Competition Season Prepping for NPC Universe in New Jersey on June 29, 2018 and NPC Pittsburgh Teen, Collegiate, and Masters Nationals 2018 with Team Cyberbodyshop. I’m Currently Sitting Just Around 16 Weeks Out and 19 Weeks Out from Each of These Shows!

So…THIS Will Be Me…HOPEFULLY, Taking the Time To Write Down my Thoughts Through This Entire Process! Whether It’s Insight, Inspiration or Simple Interest You Gain…I Hope You Read and Feel my Passion for this Sport! 💖💖💖💖

Every year, as this holiday approaches…I get an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach and my anxiety sets in. NOT because of my own father…I LOVE celebrating him…he’s the BEST!!! But, one of these days soon, MY daughter is going to start asking about her biological father. 

First, let me begin by saying that I have never felt the need to speak on this subject over a public forum. In fact, I don’t often speak about Ella’s biological father at all. Second, this is not an angry,”pity seeking,” or finger-pointing post. Rather it’s one where I simply express my personal feelings with regard to my own situation. In fact, to protect Ella’s biological father’s anonymity…I’ll just call him “Donor X.” 

The choice to become a parent is just that…a choice! And it’s a CHOICE for both parents! This was the choice presented to Donor X, some six odd years ago. He was already a father, and when presented with the choice to be a father to my child he “opted out” during my pregnancy. In that moment, I experienced every feeling from anger, sadness, to rejection…as any normal person would. However, in hindsight, I view his choice brave. To be a parent takes everything you’ve got, and if you’re ill equipped and unprepared to love unconditionally, the brave choice is to step away. 

I’ve loved my daughter since the moment I discovered she existed, and since that day she’s been loved beyond belief! Ella is the happiest, most inquisitive, intelligent and hilarious child around. However, I do not claim to be able to fill both roles of mother and father. There are some things that only a father can teach his daughter. So, hopefully, one day, a man will fill this role and show her these things that I cannot. 

In the meantime, my dad, stepdad, and brother do a pretty phenomenal job of showing her the way! So…a VERY Happy Fathers Day to the three of them, and to ALL of the AMAZING Dads that guide their children through life! You are truly role models that pave the way! 

I think there is a common misconception that I have always been passionate and dedicated to health and fitness. This is an incorrect assumption. 

Like many people, as I grew up, through high school and college, I played athletics (specifically volleyball and gymnastics). However, I was never taught much about nutrition, nor was I introduced to weight lifting or a gym atmosphere. I have always had great genetics, and therefore, after college, I heavily relied on the fact that I came from “skinny” or “good” genes. However, genetics do not always win in the end! 

When I entered law school, I ate fast food regularly, drank alcohol frequently and I was a heavy smoker. Additionally, I had never entered a gym in my life. I was severely overweight for my height and age and highly depressed. Additionally, I was uneducated about how to change my lifestyle! It seems simple…but, it isn’t! 

After graduating law school, I moved to San Diego. Everyone in San Diego was confident, healthy, fit and outgoing. I was the opposite…self-conscious, depressed, overweight, and quiet! I only came out of my shell when I drank alcohol! This created a vicious cycle…and my depression hit rock bottom. 

The first big step I took was to seek help for my depression. Once I did this, part of my therapy was to find a gym and begin a regular exercise routine. I can remember the day I walked into Costco and purchased a two-year membership to 24 Hour Fitness. That same day, I took my membership purchase to my local 24 Hour Fitness in San Diego and enrolled!  

Stepping into a gym for the first time was frightening and invigorating at the same time. I had crazy anxiety, because it was unknown…but, at the same time…I was wildly excited to start a new journey! And, I did it entirely alone…which was a HUGE step for me! I literally sat at the membership desk with my heart racing in an unknown world! This was in January 2009!

I did the SMARTEST thing that day that I probably could’ve EVER done! I hired a personal trainer on the spot! I scheduled my initial session with him immediately, so that I would force myself to return to the gym…as I was fairly confident that even then I might never return! 

With all that money invested and a trainer to hold me accountable, I began my journey to a better life! I was fortunate to have found one of the most compassionate, kind, knowledgeable and motivating trainers in the WORLD…Helvio! He was Brazalian, and although he listened intently and intuitively to me every step of the way…he PUSHED me and never allowed me to complain or back down! 

Over the course of the year that followed, Helvio not only taught me how to fuel my body with the proper foods that it needed to be healthy and sustain exercise, but he showed me the proper foundation for weight loss and building strength…physically and mentally! I grew more confident each day as I discovered more about myself! It was this self-discovery and personal growth that eventually drove me to pursue my own career in personal training. I became an NASM certified trainer in 2010. 

Through Helvio, I was introduced to an extraordinary network of friendships, as well as my first experience with bodybuilding competitions. Under the guidance of Helvio, whom I now considered more of a coach and mentor, I competed in my first NPC Bikini Competition in March 2010 at Jon Lindsay’s NPC San Diego Championship. 

Although I did not place well in this show, I figured out three things: (1) I had gained an overwhelming amount of confidence through simply “being” in this industry and creating self-growth and change in a healthy and sustainable way (2) I fell in love with being on stage, and I was MEANT to compete, and (3) Bikini was NOT my category. I knew that the next time I stepped on stage, I would enter as a figure competitor! But…I had a LOT of work to do!!! 

Two months later…I found out I was PREGNANT! So…I put my dreams of being a competitor on hold…and I couldn’t WAIT to meet my NEW DREAM!! I moved home to Northern California for family support through my pregnancy where I continued to stay fit, lift and eat well through my pregnancy. 

My daughter, Ella was born in 2011. After I had my daughter, the challenge wasn’t so much in weight loss, but rather the challenge became in justifying giving up time with my daughter to spend in the gym working and training! My daughter is the center of my world and will always be the most important thing in my life, however I was drawn to get back to my passion in personal training again! I was a single (stay-at-home) mother, and I was being stereotyped as such. I was unhappy in that role…and wanted more! However, it was in that moment that I realized I didn’t need to give up one dream for the other! There are so many working parents out there…why couldn’t I be one too? 

When Ella turned two, and started toddler school, I began a path back to working as a personal trainer at my local gym, and my dreams of competing were reborn! Thankfully, I work at a place where they allow me to create my own schedule, so my hours are always based around Ella’s school schedule! 

I soon discovered that the time I had to myself either working or training became therapeutic. I have became a better parent to my daughter because of this “me time,”…. more patient, sane and tolerant. 

I am going on three years as a person trainer at the same local gym! I love it and truly believe that my calling is to help others change their lives for the better and realize their true inner potential for strength mentally and physically! 

In July 2014, after a year or so of dedicated training, my workouts had somewhat plateaued and I was ready to progress to the next level.  I was getting the itch to compete again, and I was tossing around the idea of hiring a coach. I decided to take a weekend trip back to San Diego to watch a close friend, Amy, compete in the 2014 San Diego Tournament of Champions in the Figure Division. 

Amy has been a very close friend, confidant, and more like a sister of mine since 2010, She competed alongside me in my first bikini show as a figure competitor.  By 2014, she had four shows under her belt and this was to be her fifth! I wanted some exposure to this industry as I’d been away for so long, and being at this show as a spectator was just the way to get it! Amy placed 2nd in Figure Class B at this competition. 

Amy has always been a HUGE inspiration to me and to watch her compete lit a fire inside me that ignited the passion that I’ve had for this sport! 

I returned home motivated and driven as ever! I began researching coaches that I felt would work best with me and I worked harder than EVER at training! 

In October 2014, I contacted Wendy Fortino and Matt Allen with Cyberbodyshop! Wendy Fortino is an IFBB Figure Pro and 2x Olympian. Matt Allen has established himself as one of the top known trainers of National level athletes and Olympians. 

Between both Wendy and Matt, they have 25 years experience in this industry and various degrees! Additionally, their philosophy is in line with my own. They believe that achieving the desired physique is simply a “by-product” of being healthy from the inside “out.” From the moment we started working together…it just clicked! 

Under the guidance of Wendy & Matt, I began on October 30, 2014! 

I worked day and night…as hard as I could…for months…literally 5 entire months! 

Finally, in late March 2015, my FIRST Figure competition arrived!  Spectrum Fitness Productions Governor’s Cup 2015 in Sacramento was my first competition of the year! 

I brought home three trophies in this show! 1st Place in Novice Figure A, 2nd Place in Masters 35+ Figure and 3rd Place in Open Figure B. 

This was just the beginning of my competition season! I continued to train over the year for the following shows…

In early May 2015, I entered Muscle Sports Productions Contra Costa Championship 2015 in Contra Costa. 

I brought home three trophies in this show! 1st Place in Masters 35+ Figure, Overall in Masters 35+ Figure and 3rd Place in Open Figure B. 

In late May 2015, I entered Spectrum Fitness Productions NorCal Competition 2015 in Sacramento. I was just three weeks off my last show and decided to do these two competitions essentially back-to-back! 

I brought home three trophies in this show! 3rd Place in Novice Figure A, 1st Place in Masters 35+ Figure and 4th Place in Open Figure B. 

My last competition of the 2015 season was in late August 2015. I entered TahoeShow in South Lake Tahoe, NV. 

I brought home two medals in this show! 3rd Place in Masters 35+ Figure and 4th Place in Open Figure B. 

After TahoeShow, I began my off season. With eleven “Top 4” awards in the year, I began to work with my coaches to build on the areas that were my weak points and better my strengths! I finished out the year of 2015 in preparation for my 2016 competition season! 

In Jan 2016, I began my 12 week competition prep for Spectrum Fitness Productions Governor’s Cup 2016 in Sacramento. 

I entered Governor’s Cup 2016 in late March 2016, and this was my first competition of this season. 

I brought home four trophies in this show! 1st  Place in Novice Figure A, Overall in Novice Figure, 5th Place in Masters 35+ Figure and 2nd Place in Open Figure B. 

Directly coming off of Governor’s Cup, I decided to compete in my first National level show. I am currently in prep to compete at the Pittsburgh Masters Nationals in late July in Pittsburgh, PA. I am roughly 6 weeks out from this show! 

So…that in a nutshell is how I discovered this lifestyle and my love for the stage! I choose to compete not for the sparkly suits and makeup (although that is ridiculously FUN)….but, instead to challenge myself! Each competition I choose to enter is a NEW GOAL and a new opportunity for me to better myself! I only want to step on stage if I’m outdoing my last effort! So…lets just SEE what’s in store for the next six weeks!! 

I hope you all had a WONDERFUL Memorial Day Weekend and celebrated not only in remembrance of the brave men and women that fight for this country everyday, but with family and friends you hold dear. 

My day started off a bit stressful, and it ended up being unexpectedly EXACTLY what I needed! The universe works in mysterious ways…

As I am currently 7.5 weeks out from Pittsburg Masters Nationals (more on this to come later), my current training schedule is an 8 day program. So, I train three days in the gym, and then take a rest day…train three days, take a rest day, etc. Therefore, my training schedule and my days off are not consistent. 

With that being said, I was meant to train on Memorial Day, and I’d scheduled a babysitter to watch my daughter during this time. I am a planner, so I planned for this weeks in advance. 

Yesterday morning, 9:00 am roles around, and the babysitter never shows up! No text, no phone call, simply…no show! So…I’m left to solve this problem, and figure out how to proceed with my day!! 

First…some of you might be thinking, “what’s the big deal?? Just skip the gym…do you REALLY need to go??” Well…YES…for THIS type of training…every single day counts! I can’t just skip days here and there when it’s convenient. That’s not exactly how being a figure competitor works! 

However…being a PARENT (single or not)…we have to learn to “roll with the punches” as they come and problem solve on the fly! Additionally…at the end of the day, when all is said and done…my schedule is ultimately ruled by my child’s schedule. She comes first. 

So…my two options on Memorial Day morning were the following: 

1. Waiting until my parents returned home from their trip, and try to train then. 

2. Skip training entirely and stack my training days for the week back-to-back. Here, I’d train six days in a row with no rest in between. 

So…while I was ANNOYED the babysitter was inconsiderate, I set that aside for the sake of my daughter. We went out to the backyard immediately. It was a GORGEOUS, hot day, and we ended playing outside ALL day long into the evening! 

Just as it should be on Memorial Day…we played badminton, frisbee, jump roped, swam in the pool, played in the water table, blew bubbles, had a picnic outside and she had ice cream and sparkling blackberry “bubble” water!! 

It was PERFECT! 

Needless to say…I have a BUSY training week ahead…but, I wouldn’t trade ANYTHING for that time I got to share with my girl!  These moments are fleeting and invaluable!  I thank the babysitter for being a “no show!”

The universe works in mysterious ways! 😊🤗💞