I NEVER THOUGHT I'D BE HERE: My Fitness Journey
- Delaney Reyburn
- Oct 14, 2018
- 4 min read
I remember a few years ago, I'd look at bikini competitors or body building in general and think, wow I could never do that. Getting up on stage practically naked with all that glam in front of a bunch of strangers, being judged by a bunch of strangers on purely my looks?! HELL NO! I was totally cynical about it, as most of us are when we're unknowledgeable about a subject. I found it uncomfortable and couldn't really wrap my head around it simply because I couldn't understand it.
Fast forward about three years, and here I am, preparing for my second bikini competition and totally one of "those" girls. Before I met my boyfriend, I never could have seen myself up on a stage in a sparkly bikini showcasing my body, but after I met Eric and learned what the sport of body building actually meant, I became much more open minded.
I began seriously training about four years ago. I had been in the gym since the beginning of high school but didn't really know what I was doing. It wasn't until college that I started taking my training more seriously. I followed fitness accounts and bodybuilding.com athletes, incorporating their workouts. Once I met Eric (my sophomore year of college), he taught me more about effective training and helped me find a true passion in it. I also started doing my own research and taking advice from Eric where I could. All my life I had been the "skinny" girl, never really had curves and any muscles I had where from the eight years of gymnastics I did when I was younger. As I started to see changes in my body through lifting weights, I got really excited. I absolutely loved the way I was growing both physically and mentally and slowly found that my happy place was when I was being active, either in the gym or outside.
Towards my senior year of college, I realized I just didn't want to do the party scene anymore and that I was happier being able to put the time and effort into building myself. Fitness not only helped me grow physically, but it truly changed my outlook on life and encouraged me to push towards something greater.
I watched Eric go through two preps, getting up on stage for both bodybuilding and then men's physique. I watched him push through difficult days and achieve a goal that he had worked so hard for. I saw the self-reward bodybuilding brought him and the confidence he gained through pushing himself so hard. And I couldn't help but begin to think... could I do that? I silently debated competing for a while. I couldn't really bring myself to decide if I just wanted to be shredded for pictures, or if I actually wanted to put in the mass amounts of efforts to achieve that stage look. Eric was beginning his prep for his third competition and after a few weeks of watching him prep I finally said, "You know what? Some day I think I'd like to compete." Just to see if I could do it! Just to push myself mentally and reach a really challenging goal. There was still about nine weeks left until his show, and Eric looked at me and said, "Why don't you just go for it and do this one with me?" He told me he'd help coach me through it and that way we could prepare together and compete together. I honestly didn't let myself think about it too much, and simply committed. I said why the heck not, lets see what I can do in nine weeks. What was I waiting for? So I put in some serious work over that next nine weeks, trained hard, stuck to my diet and got my cardio in. Show day eventually came around, and to my total surprise, I won my class. It showed me how rewarding committing to goal could be. I was over the moon, and since Eric won too, we celebrated BIG TIME.
After that competition, we both went into an "off season", which basically means we began working on increasing our metabolisms and growing some more muscle. We traveled the world and although fitness remained a priority, we didn't let it consume us. We ate lots of food, grew in different ways and embraced the bodies we grew into. Both of us knew the time to compete again would come soon enough and that we should simply embrace the joys of an off season while we had it.
Once we were nearing returning home from our travels, we decided it was the perfect time to dial in for a competition once again. I was on the fence about wanting to compete because I had finally fallen in love with my own body and was embracing my relationship with food. But I also knew that being in such a good head space was a sign that it was the perfect time to put myself through a new challenge. After a full year of traveling and enjoying myself I wanted something to work towards.
Towards the end of our trip, Eric and I both began prep. I stayed lenient throughout the rest of our trip, making sure I didn't miss out on anything. Once we landed home in Boston, it was grind time. Now for the past 10 weeks, we've been living back at my home in California putting our all into this prep for our upcoming shows. We decided to do two shows this season, back-to-back, since we might as well showcase all that hard-work more than once. Once we finish these two shows, we'll both go into another off season where we will continue to grow physically and mentally for a while. I'm not sure what my goals will be after competing this year, but I do know I'll be ready to have my life (especially food) back for a while. Competing is a truly amazing feeling and there is no better reward than setting your mind to something and accomplishing that, but after 12 weeks of prep, you're about ready for some normality in your life!
I'm so grateful for my experiences and challenges that have led me to where I am in not only my fitness journey, but in life. I know that finding this passion will forever define how I live the rest of my life and #IAMHEREFORIT!
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