This post is for all my blog followers! I do a lot of live videos on Facebook and openly share workout and nutrition tips along with my own personal struggles. Here is a collection of some of my more recent posts. If you want to see more just like my page @Seemomlift
Full Body Workout:
My dip color review over coffee:
What to do when you are not motivate:
Quick product review: Sweet Sweat waist trimmer and cream
Killer Core Circuit:
Post competition struggles:
Sneak peek into my home gym:
For those of you that have only known me for a few years you may not know this, but I have not always been healthy and fit. I was actually the complete opposite. I ran my first mile (not a typo, my first 1 mile) when I was 30 years old. My weight has always been like a yo yo and I’ve only been thin when I was able to eat less. I never liked my body and had a unhealthy relationship with food.
So how did I change my life around?
Today’s blog is dedicated to my friend and coach Omar Henderson with NuGro Wellness. I met him six years ago when my cousin mentioned she almost puked at a boot camp class the night before but was planning on going back. The trainer was running a 21 day challenge for $50 that include attending unlimited classes and a 21 day meal plan. I dreamed of having a great body and being confident in a swim suit and was sick of being unhappy. I went to class the next night , almost died and signed up for the challenge. I will never forget my hands shaking from the workout while I wrote the check.
I was added to a Facebook team of women on the same journey, assigned a coach, given a 21 day clean eating meal plan and attacked the challenge. Holy shit! In just 1 week I saw changes and by the end of 3 weeks I was a new women. My jeans were large (even after my husband put them in the dryer), I had more energy and I was addicted to the results. 6 years later I am a personal trainer, Beachbody Coach and competitive bodybuilder. I love what I do and sharing my passion with others!
Omar’s gym has changed locations, I moved to the other side of town and I do most of my own training; however I always fall back to him for guidance. He was my coach for my very first competition and took me somewhere I thought only others could go. Three years later he guided me to the stage again and I couldn’t be more grateful. We worked together as a team on this prep and he gave sound recommendations when I was crazy and carb depleted. Although I hid it well on stage, I was scared and insecure. I stood backstage second guessing my physique and posing. He was there to build me up, provide me guidance and make the final tweaks to my posing. I hit the stage with confidence and sass and I crushed it.
Whatever your goal is, don’t go at it alone. Two is much stronger than one. Will I compete again? I’m not sure, but one thing I do know is that it won’t be on my own.
As I look back at this competition and analyze what I could have done differently to have brought a better package I realized I’m being too hard on myself and need to tell these thoughts to shut the f*ck up. Do you have this problem? Like nothing you do is good enough? I’m my own worse critic.
This was my fifth competition and 3rd year competing. In the past if I followed the plan the weight seemed to magically fall off. Well not this time. After 4 weeks of prep (8 weeks out from my competition) I found myself discouraged and blogged about it. Instead of changing my goal we just changed our approach. We got more aggressive with my diet and lowered both my carbs and protein. I also increased the amount of cardio I did. On show day I felt pretty confident with the package I brought to the stage but would have liked to have been about 5lbs less. I was still holding on to fat in my mid-section and thighs. Today I pulled up that 8 weeks out photo from my blog and said “damn, you killed this prep!” Yeah, I complimented myself and it felt good. Go ahead, try it! Look in the mirror and see how beautiful you are. Does your hair look good today? Go ahead, tell yourself that. How about your smile? Whatever it is,remember that you are beautiful and you should be proud of your accomplishments no matter the size. Stop cutting yourself down and build yourself up. When that crazy bitch in your head starts telling you that you shouldn’t have had that cookie or that you are fat just say “shut the f*ck up bitch” and move on. Unless you violated one of the 10 commandments you didn’t sin and you can give yourself a break, just move on and smile.
Well it’s over, my competition that is. It’s the morning after and I can’t sleep so why not walk on the treadmill and blog about it? (I did eat way to much chocolate yesterday and could use the cardio)
So yesterday I competed in The Michigan State Natural Bodybuilding Championship through the NANBF. My previous 4 competitions were through the NPC (separate organization). Since I’ve competed before and placed first in my division (Masters) I was only allowed to compete in the Open class for the competition and not Novice. 1st place in this class wins a pro-card in the natural league and is kind of a big deal. Honestly, going into the show I wasn’t confident with where my physique was at. I struggled with weight loss through this whole process and could not lose the extra weight around my midsection. When I found out that there were only six other competitors in my division I was a little worried that there would be strong competition but when I saw all the strong and beautiful women backstage I knew it was a great competition. All six of us looked fabulous and fought for that trophy. I ended up taking third overall and then won the best female posing award. I feel very comfortable with my placing based on the package I brought to the stage and know that 1st overall is just within reach. Winning overall poser shows how far I have came with my stage presence and confidence. Although after the show I found myself feeling slightly down and out I woke up with a much better outlook. Going into this show my only goal was to beat the girl I was last year on stage and nobody else. I crushed my goal! I brought a whole new confident woman to that stage and left last year’s Nicole in the dust. Will I compete again? I honestly don’t know. Today the competition is fresh and I’m hungry for the win but in reality, the stress of prep isn’t something my body or family can handle back to back. I was over impressed with this competition and might just plan to come back next year and go for gold. Now it’s time to hit the gym and putting all those calories to building up my glutes!
If you are curious about my coaching I did hire help. I am a personal trainer and confident in coaching others but you are your own worst critic. I’ve always had a coach and will never go at this alone. For this prep my coach was my friend and the man that helped me transform my lifestyle 6 years ago when I attended his boot camp class and almost died. He watched me go from not being able to run 400 yards without puffing on an inhaler to the strong woman I am today. He has his own gym here in the Grand Rapids area and promotes overall health and wellness. You can check him out on Facebook and Instagram@NugroWellness .
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