First Competition Experience Has Come and Gone

Well I am ashamed to admit that the last time I posted a blog entry was at the 7-week out point of my training that lead up to the July 20, 21 IDFA International Championships. It certainly did not go without acknowledgement as I was very public with photos and results on Facebook. 

The training and diet process were very new to me. I found it a struggle to find a trainer that I could mesh well with, whose philosophies resonated with my own. After some trial and error, and along with the help of some great friends who had experience on the competition stage, I managed to get myself to the competition date. There was so much to account for during those last few weeks of the journey. The diet alone begins to feel like a full-time job, or was that just my obsessive personality creeping in. There is hair, make-up, suit selection and fittings, learning to walk on heels well and getting your posing and T-walk routine to an acceptable place, skin-care and tanning and finally the final week of contest prep -- seemingly an art in and of itself. By surrounding myself with positive, uplifting people who knew what they were doing, I found the experience, including backstage at the shows, incredibly comfortable. My confidence sky-rocketted as the weekend progressed and the new friends that were made as a result of the surprising and refreshing camaraderie backstage was simply the cherry on the icing of the cake! (Isn't a food pun apropos about now?)

Of course it was more about the journey than the actual few minutes spent being judged on stage. And what a journey it was. The fact that I have chosen to do it all again speaks volumes. It keeps me accountable to my intention of living a healthy lifestyle and keeping my body in the best condition I can. At 44 years of age, I do feel the best I have ever felt in terms of overall health and well-being -- balance. 

I owe massive credit to my amazing support team of my husband, Edmund, best friend of 23 years Tinya Gray, Lauren DiNapoli for her expert coaching, as well as Andrea Laurin, Jeff Boris and Lori Clarke for their incredible support and advice, Erika Engle, RMT for keeping my muscles tuned up, my sister Karen Tredger for going above and beyond sisterly duties, Louise Dudley of Monaco Sun tanning, and of course Colleen McConnell of The Crystal Suit®. And thank-you to Shaun Campbell of the IDFA and Nkechi Nwafor-Robinson for creating a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere for competitors to compete naturally in.

Here is my write-up from that day:

Jennifer Remazki, Journey to the Stage

• IDFA International Championships - July 20 &21, 2012
• 6th Place Novice and Master's Figure; 1st Place Transformation Challenge

Despite being athletic all her life, graduating with honour from Fitness & Lifestyle Management in college and having a successful career throughout her 20’s and early 30’s in the fitness industry, Jennifer still battled with her own body issues, self-esteem and weight-fluctuations. Throughout her 30’s, and even today, she spends a great deal of time traveling to compete in dog shows, where it is hard to maintain an exercise program and a healthy-eating plan. 

In late 2009, she started running again and throughout 2010, she was back to running full marathons. She completed 7 full marathons and even a 50-KM ultra-marathon! But then, in late 2010, she suffered a series of personal setbacks, which knocked the wind out of her sails and over that winter the weight piled back on. She found herself at the highest weight of her life during the summer of 2011. She was full of inflammation and close to resigning herself to the fact that this was inevitable – this was the aging process at work. It had all caught up to her.

Thankfully, she became inspired to try Isagenix through a close college friend, Tinya Gray. By Christmas of that year, she had released 30lbs by completing three back-to-back 30-Day Cleanses. She was thrilled that her weight and inches had released so easily from her body. She did not experience any sense of deprivation, in fact, her cravings for sweets, junk food and coffee were gone! She had amazing steady energy all day long, slept like a baby at night (an area she had previously had troubles with) and her irritability had vanished much to the delight of her husband, who had to put up with it for so many years.

When she realized that her body was responding to this amazing nutrition program in a way she never could have imagined, she stated aloud that she had always had a far-fetched dream of competing in a Figure competition. Suddenly that far-fetched dream had become a steadfast goal. In February of this year, she hit the gym with a vengeance, determined to prove, for one last time, that age was just a number and that it is never too old to become the best you can be, mentally and physically. She literally cleared out the toxicity in her body and her life to allow incredible nutrition and positive daily habits to flow in.

Having just turned 44, Jennifer is proud of the journey she has taken that has brought her to the point of stepping onto the Figure Competition stage for the very first time. On July 22, 2012, she was named the IDFA International Championship’s Transformation Challenge Winner – an award that is the perfect accolade to sum up the journey she has been on in the past year. It has been a transformation of a spiritual, mental and physical kind. She is rewarded day-in and day-out by the fact that she gets to share this amazing, life-changing opportunity that is Isagenix, with others. Inspiring others get “on path” and “on purpose” is what it is all about for her – and by doing so, by inspiring others, it motivates her, even on the low days (as we all do have them from time to time) to get to the gym – to “keep moving forward.” That’s what it’s all about!

Jennifer will be competing in her next Figure competition on in spring 2013 and foresees many more to come!

Jennifer relies heavily on EVERTHING in the Isagenix product line, but particularly loves the IsaLean Pro, Product B and of course, the Ionix Supreme.