At the time I made the decision to be healthy, I weighed 150 pounds and I'm 5'1". Ok, so I was over weight, not by a huge amount but it was enough to make me feel tired and I was always unhappy to see my reflection in the mirror.That gets old after a while and really tugs on your heart strings.
I was busy, just like most working moms,and wondered how I would find the time to truly, once and for all, dedicate myself to fitness. I had 3 kids, a husband, a home to maintain and I owned a hair salon. Time was definitely hard to come by. It was important to me tho. So I decided every morning I would start my day with some sort of exercise. I started walking on my treadmill at home and shortly after, my 15 minute walk became a half hour jog and then run. I stayed dedicated. I was determined.
I decided to visit my local gym. No doubt I was nervous, thinking everyone there would be totally buff and I would look like an outsider. To my surprise, I fit in just perfectly. The gym members were all different shapes and were all at different levels of fitness. I was so relieved! It just so happened that one of my customers from my hair salon was a trainer there. I took advantage of this, feeling comfortable with her and her guidance. Joining the gym ended up being one of the best things I did.
I learned the proper way to work out, using good form to avoid injury. I also learned the types of food to eat. Remember I had said I tried dieting before? Well, I really had no clue when I look back on it. I never knew about the ratios of good fats, carbs and proteins. I never took supplements before, but I learned about the things I needed to to be taking. The multi vitamin was a life saver. Who would've thought? This was all key to my success. Just a simple thing, like knowledge, gave me what I needed to start my life in the right direction.
After a couple of months at the gym, I realized I needed something more. I was going to compete in a figure competition. After altering my diet and work outs(just stepped it up a bit and was very strict with diet), 3 months later I took the stage. My first competition was a huge show in Pittsburgh, PA. I knew I was probably not going to do well but I did it for the experience. I actually didn't do as bad as I thought I would. I didn't take the top three by any means but I placed around 12th out of about 20 girls. That gave me hope. I decided to compete in a competition that was drug tested. Knowing that all of the other girls had the same advantage I did, gave me great satisfaction.
I stumbled across a whole new world of competitors. I competed in the OCB (Organization of Competitive Bodybuilding) competitions. These athletes were amazing. They were all in excellent shape and the organization was very welcoming. I ended taking first place in two separate categories. I competed in 2 more competitions with OCB, taking second place in both (one being their National Competition).
It's the next competition I did that truly satisfied my goal at that point. I enter a competition with NGA(National Gym Association). At this competition I took first place in my category(open Figure) and first place over all. The title ended up scoring me a pro card. This was it for me. I was happy. I felt like I couldn't ask for anything more. I decided not to compete anymore because my dreams were already fulfilled.
Since then(5 years) I have been able to maintain a good, healthy lifestyle by just knowing how to do it. Knowledge is key and I've come to realize this applies to most everything in life. In order to succeed, you must first have the knowledge to do so and then do it! Dedication is everything. Without it, you have nothing but hopes.
I hope you enjoyed this story and that you can take something from it. Dedicate yourself to something, no matter what it is. You will soon come to find your efforts will give you much happiness and fulfillment.
View my other blogs http://mostop3reasonstoliftweights.blogspot.com/
