Six years ago, Melissa Fanning took her now 13-year-old son to an aquarium during a beach trip. When he started running up a ramp to see the dolphin exhibit, Fanning—who weighed 280 pounds at the time—couldn’t keep up.
“I told him to go without me,” she remembered. “The look on his face was just disappointed.”
Fanning credits that moment with motivating her to make a change and get in shape.
Last month, she was named Ms. Alabama Female Bodybuilder in the statewide bodybuilding competition. One month earlier, Fanning competed in her first competition, where she won overall female bodybuilder in the Body B One show in Phoenix City.
“I set a goal, and six years later, here I am,” Fanning said. “Six years ago, I was very heavy. …I was just very unhappy with myself. I thought if I bought designer clothes, wore high heels, wore makeup, it would cover it up.”
But Fanning still wasn’t comfortable in her own skin. So, she signed up with a gym in Anniston and went to work.
“The day I started at the gym, I sat in the car for 45 minutes because I was scared,” Fanning said.
After months of hard work, Fanning had lost 50 pounds. Around that time, she was flipping through fitness magazines and decided she wanted to venture into bodybuilding.
“I saw magazines with these beautiful women with muscles,” Fanning said.
Now, Fanning is a frequent sight at Max Fitness in Auburn. She works a different muscle group each day, and does cardio two-a-days when she’s prepping for a competition. She also works with prep coach Thomas Wade in Montgomery.
“The gym is my sanctuary,” Fanning said. “It’s grueling, but I believe it makes you stronger. I’ve learned about myself.”
Fanning admitted she was nervous before going onstage for the first time, but feels like she’s a different person during competitions.
“I was battling back and forth, ‘Can I do this? Do I want to do this?’” she said. “Let me go ahead and put on a bikini and have someone judge me. That’s crazy. Who does that?”
But the support of friends, family and her coworkers at GNC in Tiger Town helps drive her.
“I’m very grateful for Marsha Gladfelder and Terry Meeks. They are the best bosses ever. They have sponsored me, believed in me,” Fanning said.
She added her son is also one of her biggest supporters.
“He’s over the moon about it. He thinks it’s so cool to have a bodybuilder for a mom. …He says I’m a strong mommy,” Fanning said proudly. “It’s pretty cool to hear your children root for you.”
Fanning is still deciding if she wants to compete in nationals for a chance to become a professional bodybuilder.
“To me, it’s not all about chasing the illusive pro card. It’s about the experience,” she said, adding one of the most rewarding things about competitions is meeting her fellow competitors. “It’s amazing. Nobody knows what it took for you to get there. They’re some of the nicest people. All of them have a story.”
As for her story, Fanning hopes to use it to inspire others to reach their goals, big or small.
“Don’t be scared to make a change. Take that first step,” she said. “Set little baby goals. When you start hitting all those goals, it just motivates you even more.
“To me, it’s more than just bodybuilding. It’s been life changing,” she continued. “I feel like if I can inspire just one person with my story, it’ll all be worth it.”
Courtesy of: OANOW.com