Follow Theresa as she makes her WBFF Diva Bikini Debut!

Family, the tie that binds...

34.  4.  11.  5. My age.  The age of my youngest daughter.  The age of my oldest daughter.  How many years I have been married to my husband. 

176.  The number of days it took me to transform my body.  

2112.  The number of excuses I had to  defy in my head because I was tired, sick, didn’t feel good or was just out right sick of competition prep and wanted to stop.  

Countless.  How many people doubted me or told me that I was attempting to do wasn’t possible or reasonable.

   

For every minute missed with my kids and husband, for anyone who doubted or disagreed that I could make it, for every tear shed and ounce of frustration spent, for every day physically exhausted and hungry for tasty food….these are the reasons why I refused to quit – I was hell bent on defying the odds.  I originally started competition prep for vain reasons….I just wanted to see my abs.  I never had abs of steel but spent countless hours seeing  people with them and thought it would be great to have them (I still laugh when I say that about abs like you can purchase them from a local store).  About three months into competition prep, I had reached my goal, my stomach was flat and my body was toned – I was tired and missed “regular” food – why keep going?  I had to reassess my purpose for attempting to complete this endeavor and I realized there was a deeper purpose than myself.   Any active mom can tell you that your kids mirror your thoughts, actions and behaviors.  My daughters watch everything I do, from the way I resolve conflict to the way I process daily life and speak to other people – if I had quit then, I realized I would only be teaching my daughters that it was okay to “quit when things get hard”, or when you “don’t feel like” continuing even though you committed or “do what was easiest”…and I found myself being hypocritical and violating my own principles.   

Everything my husband and I have tried to teach our girls would be completely undermined by me stopping.   One of the hardest things I’ve ever done is continued something so physically, mentally, emotionally and physically grueling out of principle and prayer (those were the only things left to keep me going).  Both of which have no immediate results….they are both long term investments that will only show returns with prudence, care and patience (all of which I am not the best at).

I am officially three days out from walking across the stage in my first WBFF show and each day is still grueling as the one before but I am at peace, content and full.  Full of gratitude.  Full of grace and full of love.  I do not care if I do not place – I never started this journey for that.  I do not care about the competitive spirits that I will encounter.  I do not care about my body compared to others.  The ONLY thing I care about is making my daughters and my husband proud - for them to see me walk across the stage knowing, they are my reasons for finishing and without them, I would not have finished.  I learned in six months what some people take a lifetime to learn….without LOVE, you will never have purpose or be fulfilled. 

WHO I AM

I am originally from Oakland, California.   I completed my undergraduate work at U.C. Berkeley and my graduate school work at N.Y.U.  I lived in a third world developing country for six months and traveled to over 11 different countries.  I stayed in New York after graduate school and met my husband the same year.   I currently work in the affordable housing sector and have a background in finance and analytics.  I am the youngest of eight kids to immigrant parents and it has definitely shaped my strong and defiant personality.  I love hosting, cooking, baking and all that Martha Stewart, Ina Garten, HGTV stuff! =) As you can tell, my kids and husband are my daily dose of happiness and the small things like ice cream on the stoop with them on a warm summer night is everything to me.