My Friend Francesca Hartman took 4th at the Arnold ~ SBT International BLOG

A few years ago I did an interview with Francesca Hartman, who had dropped 50 pounds and turned herself from a before picture into an absolutely stunning after picture. You can check out that interview ==>> How Francesca lost 50 Pounds and Went from Fat to Fab (it will open in a new page).

I mentioned to Fran that she had a lot of potential to greatly improve on what she looked like, even though she looked fantastic already, and that she’d be amazing if she ever decided to compete in figure competitions (which now has a bikini division, but not for the ladies you think of in beauty contests, that’s not fit enough!).

Fran and I have kept in touch after that interview. Anyway, not long after that interview Fran competed for the first time. And then competed again. And again. And recently sent me an update since that first interview.

Hey everyone, well the last interview was in December of 2008 , where I had accomplished losing around 50 plus pounds. I was more than determined to be in good enough shape to step on stage and compete against some of the best NPC competitors in the sport.

In early 2009, just shortly after the last interview I received a call that sent both my husband and myself on a mission as Drill Sergeants in the Army to Ft. Knox, Kentucky for nearly a year.

For that year we worked 16 – 20 hour shifts, 6 – 7 days a week. Finding time to get in shape while training soldiers was nearly impossible, even finding energy to drink coffee was hard. Haha.

In Dec of 2009, while at Ft. Knox, I had made a new years resolution that I would compete in the 1st Jon Lindsay NPC event of the year, which was March 21 2010.

I weighed around 135 pounds at the time and wanted to come into the competition at 115 pounds and toned. So I definitely had my work cut out for me, literally!

This gave me just under 3 months to get myself on track, learn how to wear high heels and put on a game face.

Fortunately, the weight I gained wasn’t all fat. I had gained a lot of muscle while doing numerous road marches, graduating Air Assault School, and technically going through Basic Combat Training more times that year than the human body should, while training soldiers.

So I was more than excited to see what was all under the body fat. March 21 2010 eventually came and I took my first step onto stage.

This was a huge moment of success; win or lose I accomplished my goal to compete and even look decent in a bathing suit after being considered obese. I wanted to show the world that no matter how big you may have gotten, a dream can happen if you set your mind to it and run, jump, or even wobble over the obstacles.

At the end of my 1st NPC, I ran away with the 1st Place trophy before they realized the mistake they made and successfully made it to Red Robin for my glory meal, continuously looking out the window for Jon Lindsay to show up and tell me it was for another Francesca Hartman and how they apologize for any inconvenience.

But I finally came to the realization the next morning, when I had woken up with the trophy next to me, that I had actually placed 1st and there was NO Jon Lindsay to be seen!!

This was my 1st NPC at San Diego GNC NPC

I went on to compete in 5 more competitions in the past 5 months:

My second was a power lifting competition at Luke AFB in Glendale, AZ, where I placed first in my weight for squat, dead lift & bench. I had to put on some weight for that competition but had a blast.

My third was a Miles production NPC event in Phoenix, AZ where I took 4th.

My fourth was the USA’s Bikini Championships in Las Vegas, NV where I placed 8th.

My fifth was Luke AFB Figure & bodybuilding competition, where I placed 1st in Figure and had an opportunity to meet Figure Competitor Betty Vasquez, who competed at the USA’s this year and Pro bodybuilding and guest speaker Troy Alves, who was getting ready for Mr. Olympia at the time.

My Sixth was at the IFBB North America’s In Cleveland, OH. where I placed 7th. My competition weight was 108 pounds which is around 60 – 70 pounds smaller than when I started losing weight in December 2005.

Being so new to the competition world and competing in so many shows (nationally & locally) in such a short time frame really placed a lot of strain on me physically and mentally.

I can’t say for sure what will happen next year as far a competing, but I do know that the desire to be the best is always going to be my nature and giving myself these competition goals is what keeps me out of the 95% of people who backslide after losing a significant amount of weight.

I am afraid of myself and that is what keeps me going forward, knowing that the work to take it off is so much greater than the determination to not put it on.