I started training in 1999. I weighed 117 lbs. In these photos I had been training 2 1/2 years… And the four red pics are after three years training hardcore to build muscle.

 

And then we have me  in 2007, still at the same weight of 114-117. As you can see bodybuilding is what you are made of (more muscle density, maturity and less bodyfat) and not what you weigh. How did I train to get this “toned”? Hard and heavy. Like a bodybuilder. But I wanted to be lean too, not just fat and muscular, so that’s why I was not bulky.

Here are some shots from 2004-2006:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here I am on stage as an IFBB fitness figure pro. 114 lbs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The two contenders to the left of me both placed ahead of me and later qualified for Miss Figure Olympia.

Here I am about a year later, 2008, after I stopped competing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And once again, see how different a body can look depending on pose and lightning…and a behind the scenes from the same shoot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would say, that from 2006 my physique started to look the way it does today. I got an “epiphany” in 2005 when I got the Biggest Loser TV show gig as the trainer for the Swedish team that no way did I want to look chubby on TV. So from that point I stopped being in denial and have stupid cheat days. Bit by bit I leaned out. During the 10 weeks of the shooting I leaned out from 120 lbs to 116 and then decided to keep on leaning out. 2005-2008 were the years I really started to put all my practice, diet applications etc into a concept and named it Fighter Diet. The name Fighter Diet I chose because it takes discipline, dedication and perseverance to be a Fighter and these qualities are what you need to be lean and shredded 365 days of the year as well.

I can look very different in my pictures. The big differences are: light, pose and flexing…. Compare these two pictures. They are taken the same day. See how you get fooled?;-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the pictures below, shot for FLEX, I weigh 112 lbs. You might not think I’m that tiny until you see the behind the scenes and you see me side by side with another woman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After 10 years of training hard and being meticulous with my diet, 8 meals a day, I started doing refeeds. My body was not used to that. Due to my slow metabolism I was always on a 1700 calorie diet to stay and get leaner. With refeeds I gained 7 lbs of muscle in less than two years time. My body loved the extra food and I got denser and leaner and bigger. I didn’t plan for this, I didn’t think it was possible to gain more and I was suspicious about it. I got a dexa body scan to make sure it was not body fat I had gained. The results were 121 lbs at 6% body fat. Here I am:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But once again, I was not “big”. Compare me here to bikini pro Sherlyn Roy:

This is the same muscle volume as in the photo with Sherlyn Roy, but I look like a big amazon here. It was time to change. I had taken my body to the extreme in one way and now I wanted to drop muscle size so I felt more like “me”. I upped the cardio to 2-3 hours  a day, stopped training some of my muscle groups for a few months. It took me about a year before I finally made it down to where I wanted: 113-115 lbs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The same year with the same body size, it was in november 2009… THIS picture below made me decide it was time to change. I did not like what came out in the picture. I felt disgusted. What had I turned in to?… I thought it was impossible to get ‘too big’ if I didn’t eat to support the muscle gain. But the reality hit me: the “good” thing with having a slow metabolism is you can pretty much grow a lot easier than those with a fast metabolism. My forte was my diet discipline. Hence I managed to gain a bit more muscle than I wanted.  Note that this picture was taken the exact same day as the one above with Sherlyn. Angles, lightning, posing and flexing change how I come across in the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to say bye bye to the weights for a few months. I killed the muscle by doing three hours of cardio per day. The process was slow….. About a year.

Here I am with my “new” body in 2010. I was a lot happier with this look. I felt proud, feminine and strong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From 2010, it’s been refining more and more. I’m keeping my lean body around 112-114 except for when I get PMS or my “bloated days for no reason” LOL, which means about 5 more lbs jiggle water for a few days.

I love to be a Camelion and being able to throw off different looks. Here are some from 2010-2011..;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, what did I do to change my body this second time around? I did 300% more cardio on top of my heavy weight training. I only stopped training heavy for a few months to jump start my downsizing phase. With the muscle lost of course strength was lost as well. Gone were the days with 265 lbs deadlifts, pullups with 80lbs added weight, 245 lbs squats and dips with 90lbs added weight…. But trust me, the weight DOES feel heavy for me now too even though my lifts are a lot lighter loads. So, do not fall into believing this body was transformed with high reps and light weights… NEVER.

It’s now 2012 and I have a new goal. I want to regain a tad more muscle but honestly it’s more “not going for that ultra low body weight”, but instead embracing where my body is ok with being. That is around 114 lbs. It’s where I’m now, but I want to get a bit denser on this weight. I never thought I’d like to add back some, but hey, you live and you learn!

The body is in constant change. It’s my passion to keep on working on it!

March 2012, back are the muscles. 118-120 is my current weight. Here are some recent shots:

I hope you see now that bodybuilding is a long term commitment and that you won’t get the results you want over night.

2013. 122 lbs: