A mother started exercising to build her confidence after giving birth to her son. She’s since qualified as a bodybuilder who has won an international fitness competition
Kassandra Gillis felt self-conscious about her appearance after she gave birth – so she’s transformed herself into a bikini bodybuilder.
Back in 2017, Kassandra was down about her body and vowed to start working out.
After becoming a mother, she started following workout videos at home as her son Grayson napped.
And after she got hooked on exercise and built her confidence up, she started hitting the gym six times per week.
Kassandra slimmed down and entered her first bodybuilding competitions a year after giving birth.
She’s gone on to obtain her Pro IFBB card and won an international show in Medellin, Colombia.
Looking back on her journey, Kassandra said: ”I was athletic as a kid and then going into high-school I drifted away from being an athlete.
“After having my son at the age of 22 in 2017 I decided to start doing home work-out videos while my son napped to try and lose all of the baby weight and help postpartum depression and anxiety.
“Eventually I gained the confidence to join a gym, from there I started progressing more and people would ask me if I competed.
“It sounded exciting, but I would have never imagined actually doing it. One day I finally decided to give it a shot.
“Fitness has become a way of life for me and competing gives me that end goal to push towards. I’m very goal-oriented.”
Kassandra continued: “I ended up placing first in my class and overall, in two local shows in autumn of 2018 and then went on to my first national show in summer 2019 coming second place just short of my IFBB Pro card.
“I decided to try again and fly to an international show in Medellin Colombia February 2020.
“I ended up winning the show and obtaining my IFBB pro card in the figure category. Shortly after returning home to Canada, COVID hit and I was no longer able to compete.
“In December I made the decision to switch to wellness and start with a new coach Ludacris Fitness.
“With COVID restrictions I knew it would be hard to compete internationally again because of the quarantine requirements when I return home.”
She said: “It was quite the experience traveling alone for my pro debut.
“I found the last two nights leading up to my show were mentally tough because I was sitting alone in my hotel room with not many distractions.
“I think this experience was good for me as it pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to grow mentally.
“There were so many mixes of emotion. excitement, nerves, pride. Everything feels like it happens so fast, I kind of go into autopilot mode.
“I love meeting likeminded people and learning from the whole experience.
“I now know what I did wrong and can make these changes for my next show and use it as fuel to motivate me even more.”
Kassandra vows to continue on with her fitness journey and hopes she will be an inspiration to her son as he grows up.
She added: “I want to give my son the best life possible.
“I want to help him achieve his dreams and goals no matter what they are.
“I think a lot of women and men feel self-conscious starting out at the gym. It can be intimidating trying a new exercise or piece of equipment with people watching.
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