A BOOZY nan has told of how she swapped hard drinking for pumping iron – and became a bodybuilding grandma.
Debbie Allsopp, 48, is a female bodybuilding champion with rippling muscles and award-winning determination.
But she’s not always been so focused. The mum-of-three and grandmother-of-two has spoken of her previous boozy nights out – drinking 12 vodka drinks – before finding solace in the gym.
The eight-time competition winner said: “Before I started bodybuilding I would have probably just carried on being that mum who went out once a month and got hammered.
“Now, my whole body shape has changed and I’m much more confident than I was. I pretended to be confident before. Now I don’t have to fake it.”
Debbie, of Peterborough, admits before she discovered the sport, she could happily down a dozen vodka and Red Bulls, chased by half a dozen shots of tequila.
“I was one of those mums who liked a glass of wine and a curry. Then once a month I’d go on a bender and be falling out of a nightclub off my head, drunk as a skunk.
“I was a typical down-trodden mum who lacked confidence in herself.
“I’d been with my husband for 18 years and married for 15, but our marriage broke down.
“We split up eight years ago and divorced, and although my sons James, then 19, and Jacob, 15, were growing up, Jasmine, was only six.”
Talking of losing her confidence, Debbie hit a turning point. She said: “Then I began dating John, who I’d met in a nightclub in Cardiff. He was a power-lifter and said to me, ‘You’re a really confident girl, you’ve got a good figure. Have you ever thought about bodybuilding?’
“Little did he know my confidence was all bravado. I told him the only time I’d been to the gym in the last 20 years was for a bit of a walk on the treadmill. I had no idea how to use weights or anything. I was a total gym virgin.”
The brunette carer followed John’s advice and joined her local gym. There a bodybuilding competition four months away in Port Talbot, Wales, run by the National Amateur Bodybuilders’ Association (NABBA).
She began training and was immediately bitten by the body-building bug. Before long, Debbie was doing five weekly sessions, honing her physique, and felt like a new woman.
Being dedicated, Debbie ditched her fatty diet of homemade bread and cakes, chilli, shepherd’s pie, lasagne and her favourite chips with curry sauce, for super lean chicken, rice, salmon, egg white omelette and vegetables.
She became teetotal and within four weeks, began to see her body change.
She said: “My biceps started growing and I began to get a bit of definition around my tummy.
“Then, 16 weeks later, in May 2012, I stepped on stage in a tiny pink velvet sparkly bikini. They are so skimpy and cut to show every muscle, you are barely covered.
“I was terrified, my whole body was shaking. Obviously, I’d been on a beach in a bikini, but I’d never stepped on stage, fully tanned, in 5 inch heels in front of hundreds of people.
“I was awarded a runner up medal. Even though I didn’t win I felt like I’d achieved something fantastic. I was hooked.”
Eight competitions later, she’s won 2nd and 3rd place in two and been awarded three runners up medals and has 500 bodybuilding friends on Facebook.
“My children, now 27, 23 and 14, are so proud of me and my youngest son has started bodybuilding too,” said Ms Allsopp.
Now boozing has been replaced with supplements, vitamins, omega 3 and amino acids – and doesn’t she look amazing?
Courtesy of: Express UK