Gotta Start Somewhere!

So, here it is, my first-ever blog. It's crazy how much power sits at our fingertips. Power is knowledge. I am always learning something new. If it's something that piques my interest, I delve deeper. This happened with health and fitness.


Growing up I was always very thin. I ate whatever I wanted and played sports - three activities per school year, which included either soccer, cross country, indoor track, basketball, or softball. Then freshman year of college hit and the sports ceased, but my eating habits did not. The drinking started and so did the munchies! Standing at 5’6”, I quickly ballooned from 115lbs. to 142lbs. over the course of my college career. I stopped with the munchies and started with exercise and I lost the weight I gained - phew! I was a healthy and fit 117lbs. After college, I moved back home for a bit and maintained my weight. Two years passed and I decided it was time for a place of my own. That's when I moved to Wells to be closer to my work. Unfortunately, my diet was compromised - again. I only gained to 125lbs. So I made sure not to surpass that number.


Then I met my now-boyfriend. We were in the honeymoon stage (actually still are three years later – insert “aww” or “vomit” here) and we ate lots of bread and cheese, drank rakia (he's Bulgarian), and took shots of patron...every. single. day. I took part in this for eight months, enough to blow up to my all-time high: 148lbs.! Once I saw that number flash across the screen of the scale, I jumped off and immediately made a promise to myself that I'd do something to control that ASAP!


I started going to the gym (Dec. 2008) and cut out some unhealthy, processed foods. I quickly dropped 10lbs., but it still wasn't enough. I incorporated weight training to my regimen – and as I’d quickly learn it was my newfound love! Like most people starting out with diet and exercise, I had no idea what I was doing. I created a routine and stuck with that for about 12 weeks. 12 WEEKS WITH THE SAME ROUTINE = BORING! Eventually I would switch it up and find another routine to stick with and I would continue doing this until April 2010. Finally, I wanted to gain more out of my time in the gym. I picked up my first issue of Muscle and Fitness Hers magazine and decided to dedicate myself to their meal plan and routine. I wanted to go the extra mile and learn even more about training so I enrolled in the Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) course through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). By this time I had one person approach me at the gym and ask if I’d ever consider doing a fitness competition – I laughed and brushed it off. A few months later, at a different gym, another person approached me with the same question. By now I was heavily into the gym and really health conscious, and I thought, why not see what it’s all about? After all, I had no clue where to start. I continued reading magazines like M&F, and I even picked up others like Oxygen and Flex. I started talking to people about exercising, weight training, nutrition, etc. and that snowballed into finding a nutritionist and a trainer. I started seeing Nutritionist Michelle Brown in September followed by CPT Jamie Marsh in October. While I wasn’t training for something, I decided I could still continue eating how I had been and it didn’t matter. Finally, I gave myself a goal: to compete in the upcoming April 23, 2011 OCB (Organization of Competitive Bodybuilders) Spirit of America show. With this in mind, Michelle and I agreed that we’d start with my competition diet in January. I had a solid month-and-a-half to get whatever bad foods I wanted to eat out of my system. 


On January 8, 2011, Michelle pinched and poked me with her calipers and found I was at 21.6% bodyfat. Within a week, under the right nutrition and exercise program, my bodyfat dropped to 20.3%. My weekly meetings with Michelle, my bodyfat always dropped, until I plateaud at 16.8%. Finally, mid-March came and I got as low as 15.3% and was weighing in at 119lbs. I felt competition ready, but still had several weeks to go. Unfortunately, I decided to pull out of the competition because of personal reasons. I wasn’t focused on the competition 100% like I needed to be. Now, I am working on building lean muscle mass.


As I continue my journey in doing so, I’d love to take you along with me and share my advice, tips, gripes, rants, and raves! Currently, I am unsure what my bodyfat is, but I am between a size 0 and a size 2 and my weight fluctuates between 127lbs. to 130lbs. I feel amazing! I can say that, at 27 years old, I am in the best shape of my life. I always look forward to tweaking my nutrition and exercise plans as I experiment to see what my body can do! I’d love for you to share with me in the comment engine below any fitness stories you might have, or if you have any questions or topics you’d like to discuss, please ask! Until next time… Be fit. Stay fit.