by Michelle Moody

I had always been “thin”...5'5 usually weighing around 125-130 size 7 but I was never muscular. Then in my thirties, I got pregnant and my weight went up to 185lbs at my heaviest. After my pregnancy, I struggled to get the weight off, as I didn’t really have any knowledge with how to lose weight since I had always been thin. Finally after 2.5 years of being overweight, I decided to do a free boot camp and that is where I met Kim Bazzle and began my journey. After that first free boot camp, I asked her to help me get my weight off. I knew it was going to be hard and a struggle but she promised me she would be by my side the entire way, all I had to do was listen. I don’t know if she realized how serious I was when I said I would do exactly what she asked of me. But, after just 4.5 months, I accomplished what she always told me I could. I had gone from 185lbs and a size 14 to 130lbs and a size 4. I continued my training except I switched from losing weight to gaining muscle and I did my first body building competition 1 year later from starting my training with her.

Since that competition I have competed in several other competitions placing in the top 5 of each. She continued to be by my side with all my competitions. I no longer compete but my love for exercising and working out continue to grow and I continue to increase my muscle mass. I now weigh 135-140lbs but I’m a size 2. One thing you learn is you do not pay attention to the scale but how your clothes feel.

So 6 years later and the journey I took with a stranger, a trainer, has turned in to a journey that has taught me so much. I learned to be strong from the inside before I became strong on the outside. I learned I am beautiful no matter my size. Most of all, I learned to believe in myself!! I may have done all the hard work of picking up those weights and doing the reps, and eating right, But I could not have done what I did without Kim by my side.

It’s been the most challenging yet rewarding transformation! Train hard, realize you will have set backs, BUT don't give up!!! It took time to put weight on; it takes time to take it off!!