About Kristi
Just how did I arrive here?
When most people look at female bodybuilders, there are so many questions and stares. Why? How? How long? We are often misunderstood. I guess when my stepmother asked me at my first show, “Why do you want look like a man?”, I was kind of dumb-struck. The truth is I don’t want to look like a man. I want to look like a powerful version of myself. We all have our own personal reasons and I guess I have several.
I was born in a very small town in Kentucky in the late 70’s. My father is very large (6’5 around 300 lbs) and my biological mother is very small (around 5’0 and average build). I am the baby of three and was raised by my father from a very young age. I guess that is where the line of femininity and masculinity was first blurred. My father was adamant about me becoming a strong independent woman. Academics were pushed to a high level and weakness was not an option.
Unlike my sister, who is the athlete of the family, I was not. I cannot play anything. Can’t catch, throw, or even run in a straight line. Frankly, athletics were never of any interest to me. I was the bookworm. I was the one who loved to destroy the curve, but my inactivity at a young age and horrible diet of “country cooking” soon led to me being a bit of a chub around puberty. I guess that is where most of it began. I got to where I could not look at myself in the mirror and I was not comfortable in my own skin. I did what most girls did at the time. I just tried to get skinny. I thought that would make me happy, but it didn’t. My body fought me and no matter how thin I became, I was never thin enough. My genetics were not meant for me to look that way, but that is what I did through high school and until my senior year in college.
It is crazy how one moment can change the direction of your life. My senior year in college, one of my friends asked me to go to the gym with her. We did cardio, which I hated, and then we went to lift weights. I was hooked from the first day. I couldn’t believe how strong I was and how it made me feel. I read everything about working out that I could find, got my first gym membership, and was in the gym 5 days a week. Before I knew it I was way stronger than all the girls I trained with. The “meatheads” started to take notice. Then I started lifting with the local male bodybuilders. They loved the fact that they couldn’t break me and I learned so much from them. After lifting for power for many years, the guys helped me prep for my first show. I look back now at the pictures from that competition and realize how little I was; we all have to start somewhere. I competed again the next year and made some good changes, but still had trouble dialing in. The guys were still helping me and I wasn’t pleased with the outcome. It is just so different to prepare a female competitor. After my show in 2006, I vowed that I would give it my all, do it myself, and bring in a better package for the next show.
With almost no money, I returned to the stage in 2009. I couldn’t believe that I was able to get 1st at both shows. I still have some weak points, but I will give it everything I have for my return to the stage in 2010...
Donations help to offset the cost of contest preparations. By clicking the donate link you can donate as much or as little as you would like. All donations will help me to prepare for my 2010 competitions.
