Before and After by Stacey Tomasini

I started working out seriously with weights about 2 years ago. Before that, I thought that 45 minutes of cardio four times a week was cutting it, and then I realized that my body wasn't changing. I started working out with my husband, and he taught me everything that I know – before then I didn't know the difference between a bicep curl and a triceps pushdown. I began training about five days a week, and after about a year of seriously hitting the weights, I thought about competing. My first show would be the Fox Cities Invitational in April of 2005, and I also planned on competing the Wisconsin Championships in May.

I started dieting in January of 2005, and I weighed close to 190…it seemed in the last 2 years, I concentrated way more on the weights and forgot about the cardio. The first couple of weeks were really hard – I started off around 1700 calories, 100 carbs and 15 grams of fat. I was living on egg whites, oatmeal, rice cereal, tuna, and tilapia. I also starting cardio again, 6 times a week for 45 minutes each day, and I would do it every morning before work on a empty stomach. I would switch off between running, walking and the elliptical.

I started getting a lot leaner, and kept on hitting the weights – I would work out each body part once each week, I was doing weights 5-6 days a week, and would always take one day off of both cardio and weights. As my show got closer, my calorie and fat intake was steadily depleting…

The first show that I competed in, Fox Cities, I won the tall class, but lost the overall. I talked to the judges after the show and my posing needed some serious help. I worked with several people and practiced over and over between then and the Wisconsin Championships. At the next show, there were 11 competitors – I won the tall class and the overall – the best part was I got a huge Conan sword for the overall. So, I thought that I was finally done dieting for the year and competing was over, until I decided to do Junior Nationals…it was only 4 weeks away and I was in the best condition of my life, so why not?

I did not do as well as I hope at Junior Nationals, but I am training like hell for next year. My upper body was ready, but my legs were too small…I am now train legs twice a week and incorporating many new exercises into my program. I hope to compete next year in several national shows, and I am training harder than ever to prepare – to someday make my dream come true and compete in the IFBB.

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