After giving birth in 2010, Jodie Cowdrey struggled to lose the weight she had gained during her pregnancy, but now, five years later, she is a sponsored athlete, professional bodybuilder and studying to become a personal trainer.
In the two years following the birth of her little girl Olivia, Mrs Cowdrey had been attempting to lose her baby weight by doing 15-minute workouts at home and going for walks when she could.
But after reaching 82 kilograms Mrs Cowdrey, then 29, decided to make a drastic lifestyle change.
‘I had just gotten to a point where I’d had enough of feeling like rubbish and decided that I was going to change…I was really unhappy and I wanted to be a good role model for my little girl,’ Mrs Cowdrey, now 31, told Daily Mail Australia.
After moving to the small Australian mining town of Kambalda with her husband Phil and two-year-old Olivia, Mrs Cowdrey joined a gym, saw videos of female bodybuilding competitions and decided to give it a go.
‘I contacted a trainer in Perth and sent my pictures across to him, which was very embarrassing, and he said I could achieve results in time for a bikini competition in six months,’ the former concrete labourer said.
With the thought of standing in front of an audience in a bikini haunting her, committing to the gym was easier than ever, and she began six months of healthy eating and intensive exercise.
‘It was a real shock to my body at that time, it was a lot of really clean eating all the time, cardio in the morning and weights in the afternoon,’ Mrs Cowdrey said.
She lost 30 kilograms altogether and competed in her first bikini competition six months later and although not placing, felt like a new person.
‘I was and am a changed woman…confident and full of energy! Mrs Cowdrey said.
‘I am an energiser bunny, I never stop!’
Since then she has competed in five competitions, placing second in the O’mara Classic Nationals and dreams of qualifying for the Arnold Classic in March and competing on the world stage.
Though proud of her efforts, Mrs Cowdrey would take it slower if she had her time over again and wouldn’t compete within six months.
‘Yes, I got into shape and it was good, but I have learnt now that I didn’t need to push myself, I was too strict on my diet and thought that to be successful at something I had to train six or seven days a week!’ Mrs Cowdrey said.
‘I now know that rest and recovery is just as important as the actual training and taking two days off a week and having a bath or going for a light walk is really important.’
Mrs Cowdrey wants to show all mothers that a healthy lifestyle is possible after childbirth and that commitment is key.
‘So many mums get stuck in a mind-set that they can’t get to a gym so therefore they can’t exercise but there are so many things you can do from going for walks to dancing,’ Mrs Cowdrey said.
‘I did it, so it’s possible!’
Courtesy of: Daily Mail
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