Fitness Amateur Of The Week: Look At Me Now!

I started competing recently, but have always been active in sports and fitness. I competed in badminton and track and field provincials and placed every year in high school. I'm always challenging myself. Throughout high school I was around 25 percent body fat and had a coach tell me I would never lose the little extra fat I had.

I still remember hearing that and feeling frustrated and upset. I never did forget that statement and for a while I believed it and thought, "Why keep working out if I'll always hold this extra little bit I want to get rid of?"

After high school, I gained 25 pounds and didn't feel like myself. I hated looking in the mirror and didn't feel comfortable in my own skin. I played around with weights off and on, but nothing serious. Last fall, I cleaned up my diet a bit, continued doing cardio, lifted three days a week, and lost about seven pounds. That wasn't good enough.

I come from a small town where there's a couple who trains out of their home (she competes as a bodybuilder). They always joked about me being their "bikini girl" sometime soon. I thought the idea was ridiculous and couldn't imagine myself onstage in front of hundreds of people. Well, that was six months ago. I competed in my first regional competition and placed second in bikini short. It was the best thing I've ever done and can't wait to improve and keep going. I still remember what that coach said to me, and now I've proved him wrong.

When I worked out alone, I performed full body routines 4-5 days a week with five days of cardio. Cardio would vary from 20-45 minutes, sometimes HIIT and sometimes steady pace. I tried to switch it up so I wouldn't get bored. I still love any type of HIIT and only perform steady pace cardio when I'm training for a competition.

My best results came when I started a split routine, lifting 5-6 days a week and performing cardio six days a week for 25 minutes split into HIIT and steady pace. The way you can manipulate the body interests me, so I try new things to see what kind of results I get.

I eat 5-6 clean meals a day with the exception of a cheat meal once a week or for special occasions.

I've always wanted to know what my body would look like if I trained my hardest. I love the science behind bodybuilding and knowing you really do have the power to make any changes you want; it's all very fascinating to me. I want to keep pushing and seeing changes. I love feeling strong and powerful.

When I have children of my own, I want to set a good example, be active with them, and show them how to grow up healthy and active. I find people nowadays aren't active enough and don't enjoy life to the fullest. I want to live a long life and know that I did what I could to keep myself healthy for a long period of time. I enjoy being a role model to people on a fitness journey.

I look back at old photos of myself and remember how unhappy I was. I felt like such a failure. I enjoy looking in the mirror and being happy with what I see.

I hope to one day compete at the national level. I plan to gain some size in the off-season and get creative with my clean eating to see how I can manipulate my training.

Never compare yourself to others. Be the best you.

Nicole Wilkins. She has an amazing attitude and has come so far in her career. It goes to show it takes time to reach goals. They can't be reached overnight.

I spend way too much time on the forums searching for random info. I've learned so much from messaging other athletes. I developed a lot of followers who helped me stay motivated. I didn't want to slack off and disappoint.