Email: makymomma@yahoo.com
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| AGE 32 HEIGHT 5'2" WEIGHT 150 lbs BODY FAT 39% |
AGE 33 HEIGHT 5'2" WEIGHT 112 lbs BODY FAT 20% |
Why I Got Started
The reason I got started is because I got fed up with being fed up. I had gained the most weight after my third baby. I have always been around 130 pounds, but after my last baby, my weight crept up to 150 pounds!
I truly did not realize how much weight I had gained until I had to step on the scale with my baby. I was shocked at how heavy I had gotten.
I realized that the sizes of my clothes were getting larger and larger, but I was in denial that I was gaining that much weight.
I always wore loose shirts, sweatshirts and jackets to cover my midsection. I hated taking pictures and looking at pictures of myself.
I felt that I had completely let myself go, which is easy to do when you are a full-time working mother with three little kids, which were 2, 4 and 5-years old at the time. I was a stay-at-home mom for two years when my third baby was born. When I went back to work, all of the eating out during my lunches seemed to take a toll on my body.
Every year, we go on vacation to Palm Springs with my whole family, which consists of pretty much being in my bathing suit every day and as little clothes as possible because it is so hot during the summer.
In January 2011, I told my husband that I was sick of hiding in my clothes and I wanted to look great in a bikini by our next summer vacation. Before I lost any more control, I finally decided to change my lifestyle. I wanted to be a sexy mom!
How I Did It
It all began with me looking at pictures of my friend's wife who had just competed in her first bikini fitness competition, Autumn Aguilar (who is now my trainer and dear friend).
I thought to myself how amazing she looked and I had only DREAMED of being in shape like that. So, I made a New Year's resolution that I promised myself to stick to.
I wanted to get healthy, lose weight, and try to run 5k's every other month with my husband. I slowly began to alter my diet with healthier choices and smaller portions.
My husband and I signed up for our first 5k in February 2011. In that same month, my friend Autumn started offering boot camps. As much as I was scared to go, I signed up and tried it out.
Let me tell you, I was out of shape! I couldn't wait until the class was over because I thought I was going to pass out. But after the class, I wanted more and started going to kickboxing boot camps up to two times per week.
Then in April 2011, Autumn offered a three month, "Get Your Body Back" Fit Challenge that consisted of a custom "clean" diet, 1-on-1 training once per week with her and boot camps twice per week. The rest was up to us on the additional training on our time.
I thought to myself, "This is it … this is exactly what I need to do to commit!" I signed up and never looked back. I had dropped seven pounds from being my heaviest at 150 in the beginning of the year, down to 143 at the time I started the challenge.
I had a goal in mind and I was going to achieve it. I'm very competitive, so the fact that this was a competition with three other girls and there was a prize for the winner, made me very focused and driven.
At the end of the 3-month challenge, I ended up winning and had lost 20 pounds and was at 123! I couldn't even remember the last time I had weighed 123 pounds! It was such a huge accomplishment in my life.
I didn't stop there though. The clean eating and daily exercise had become a lifestyle for me. I continued to eat clean and workout after the challenge.
I signed up for a gym membership so I could start devoting my workouts to weightlifting as well.
Oh yeah, by the way, the challenge I had mentioned before was all cardio, plyometrics, and light weightlifting out of a warehouse gym.
I wasn't truly devoting my workouts to weightlifting. I maintained my weight the whole time and got down to 120 pounds. My trainer asked me if I wanted to start training for a fitness competition, but it wasn't the right time and I decided to hold off until I was ready.
By January 2012, I was ready for my next transformation. I committed to training for my first bikini competition, which was always a dream of mine.
Autumn and I trained from January to March and I competed in my first ever NPC bikini competition. My competition weight got all the way down to 102 pounds.
The diet was a lot stricter and constantly changing. My training was constantly changing with weights and cardio becoming more and more intense as it got closer to the competition date. I didn't place very well, but the overall experience was amazing!
I was proud of myself for getting in the best shape of my life, living my dream and being able to say that I DID IT! After the show, it's normal to put on 10-to-20 pounds because of the extremely lean weight you get down to the last couple of weeks of training.
I currently weigh a healthy 112 pounds. I still continue to eat clean, train intense and would like to do more competitions in the future.
I can't wait for the day where I can show my grandkids or even great grandkids pictures of their grandma at her bikini competition!
I wouldn't have been able to achieve this without the overwhelming support of my wonderful husband, Frank. He also diets and trains the same as I, so we are each other's support system. He would watch the kids when I had to go back to the gym for the second or third time in the day and he put up with my mood swings. Seeing the look on his face and how proud he was of me when I got off that stage will be unforgettable.
Even my kids would support me and ask if I was eating my protein and my daughter would practice posing in the mirror with me. My family and friends played a huge part in my support system and all of their positive feedback kept me going. And of course my dear friend, trainer, motivator, Autumn Aguilar with Self Made Fitness was my rock. She never gave up on me and made my dream become a reality.
Suggestions For Aspiring Transformers
I want to be able to inspire all of the mothers out there and women in general that it is never too late to get in shape. The hardest part is starting. You have to realize that it's going to take time and you just have to keep pushing thru and never look back. Every day counts.
Diet was the biggest contributor to my weight loss. It is also the hardest part of losing weight, especially with kids. If it was easy, everyone would do it, but it takes commitment and mind over matter.
You are the only one who has control of your body and when you are able to sculpt your body the way you want it, it is the most amazing feeling. You have to make the time for yourself and fit exercise into your day.
You are not selfish for taking care of your health. I stopped making excuses for myself and made exercise and diet a part of my busy schedule. Planning is key!