My journey to the stage is a funny one. I look back and think, "How did I get here?". It seems it was always in the cards for me....
I'm 5'11" with an athletic build. The athletic build is really accredited to my "Johnson shoulders" Everyone in my family has them. Like we never needed shoulder pads! I was a competitive cheerleader in high school. We were required to run a mile, lift and fly girls in the air and get though a three minute routine with a smile. Don't get me wrong. I considered myself an athlete as a cheerleader because all of those things were hard, challenging, and took team work to accomplish. But I kept getting pegged for this 'athlete' who played some kind of ball, swam or ran some kind of race. The truth was, that I hated gym class and really hated when they would make us go to the weight room. My idea of fit was on some kind of cardio machine or in cheer practice. A girl had no business being in the weight room. It didn't help either when I entered college that I was the manager on the girls' basketball team. People still think I played on the team. Clearly they didn't attend any games.
A few years later, I was living in Brooklyn and joined a gym. Fitness had always been in my life. As a kid, my mother was a jazzercise queen. So, it was natural to join a gym and get back on the elliptical, take some dance classes and lose some weight. I had gained a few pounds during my transition from the quiet suburbs of NJ to the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn, and the abundance of fast food places open after 9PM!!! That's where I discovered pole fitness. After months and months of practice, I was able to lift myself up in the air and do 'tricks' while I was up there. I was addicted. It had become my adult cheerleading. I had completely forgotten about losing weight and just focused on sticking the next 'trick'. Before I knew it, my athletic build was showing up even more and I could do pushups and pull ups with ease. I was getting stopped on the train with people asking me how I got my arms so toned The faces when I told the what I was doing was hilarious.
I was amazed how stron I was getting , how much I loved my new body with muscle tone and wanted to get stronger, but just didn't know how. I heard it over and over again to get in the weight room. But that place was just not a place I saw many women. I didn't like the idea of being in that area with a bunch of dudes who would probably be looking at like why is she here. In reality, I would be looking at myself asking 'why are you here? You have no clue what you are doing'
I continued to take bootcamp classes where the free weights were bright colors and I had an instructor tell me what to do. I loved it all so much that it grew into me teaching not only conditioning classes, but also pole classes.
I was teaching 4-6 times a week and really loving every moment of it. As an instructor you don't realize how much you influence people's lives. I had many students come to me and tell me how grateful they were for the words I said in class or pushing them to their limit, only for them to exceed what they thought they could do. This in turn made me think about my limits. How could I push Tiffany above and beyond what she thought she could do
Luckily, I ran into a friend/coworker at the pole studio and I noticed her dramatic weight loss and muscle gain. I asked her immediately ' What are you doing? What is your secret?' You look amazing.
She told me she was competing. I naturally thought she meant pole. Instructors at the studio are always competing. She told me about a bikini competition. We had a pretty lengthy discussion about the process and what she was doing and when it was, I was so intrigued. I went on to teach class and she said if I was interested to let her know. Weeks had gone by and I thought maybe this was the challenge I was looking for? Maybe I can set this goal to one day hit the stage, and work really hard and 'leave it all on the floor' as we would say in cheerleading.
My first bootcamp with Malenna had transpired shortly after. And after the first class, I knew she would be a great coach. I started with her transformation programs to get me into the groove adn told her I was interested in competing in the future, but not right now. I had just gotten engaged and now it was about being fit for the wedding, but after the wedding I was super serious about this bikini competition thing.
A week after my wedding, I emailed Malenna and told her 2015 was the year I was going to do this. Set a goal, work hard, and 'leave it on the floor'. I knew a few things about this journey from the start.
1. Getting my husband on board was going to be a challenge . 2. I would have to tackle that weight room I had been ignoring since high school. 3. It would be both challenging mentally and physcially 4. with God all things are possible.
This Journey
I can say that after 6 weeks of nagging my husband to compete, he finally said 'yes' After a few more weeks, he finally asked the details of what it all entails, showing his undivided attention and full support of my competition. I am happy to say I now help out guys in the weight room. HA! I feel very comfortable asking to use a machine or jump in on sets. I am well respected in any gym I set foot in, and even get called a 'beast' with some of the crazy things my coach has me doing. The weight training has actually empowered me not only as a woman, but as a human. I will never set limits on my capabilities. I also know life hands us these huge challenges and honestly if I can give up cheese and bread, life's challenges are a piece of cake...had to give that up too!
I initially set this goal to challenge myself, which I did. What I didn't expect were the extra things that came along with this journey 1. A greater understanding of self worth and self love. 2. The woman's body is incredible and to love it during every stage and change (6 pack rolls, 6 pack abs, pre/post baby body) 3. if you give it your all, you will always win 4. the new friendships of 3 amazing ladies who have shared this journey with me 5. I am and will always be an athlete. 6. My love and admiration for my coach. She is one incredible woman. 7. An even stronger belief that with God all things are possible.
I set a goal...I worked hard...and on April 11th, I'll leave it on the floor....
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| Photo Credit SXF Photography |
But even after I saw my sister compete I still wasn’t really
sold. I knew what to expect because I saw her go through it. I saw all the
foods she couldn’t have at the end of it and how much time she had to put in at
the gym. I thought I could never do this
because I love food way too much. Anyone that knows me knows my love for food!
But then something changed and I wanted something more. I was tired of the
excuses I gave myself. I wanted to challenge myself in every way possible and I
knew competing would do that. My sister was the first one to tell me I could do
this. I was shocked at how confident in me she was. I talked with her about it
and told her my worries mainly about the food I know I wouldn't be able to
have. But then she said, it's not like you won't ever have the foods you love
ever again. And I realized she was right. It would only be for a period of time
where I couldn't have what I wanted. Right then I knew I wanted to compete not
only to see myself physically change but also to see my mentality change. I
needed to do this to prove to myself that I could. To be able to shut up all
the negative things I kept telling myself. From there, I went to an Elite Heat
Comp prep workshop and learned everything I needed to know. I told Tiffany’s
coach, Malenna I was ready to compete and the rest is history.
