Here is my story
I grew up in small city in Ukraine on farm that my parents own. That meant
fried pork, mashed potatoes, gravy and a lot of bread with homemade butter were
considered healthy. Between working on my parent’s farm and swimming classes in
school being active was part of my life, but when I hit university all that
changed and I gained weight in my first six month of being a student. I got
scared. I started practicing Martial Arts, taking step-aerobic classes and
doing weights. I have being very active, but I never thought about my
nutrition. I could starve myself to death and lose weight in few weeks, but
after that I was gaining all that weight back and even more. My biggest
stumbling block was emotional eating. I realized that when I am stressed
out or overly tired, I would reach for high-fat, high-salt, and high-sugar
foods. But after eating all of that I was feeling even worth. I realized that I
hated myself and I was projecting that on everybody and everything around me.
It was time to change everything.
I didn’t really start eating clean until I took Monica’s Brant fitness camp and
met Kim Oddo. At 26 years old, five-foot-six and 156 pounds I was unhappy with
how I looked. Everything has changed after meeting Kim Oddo. He explained me
what I was doing wrong and how I need to change my nutrition plan. I learned
about portion sizes and how make smart and healthy meals chooses. I
started with 12 weeks transformation program. It was not easy! But I had my goal and was going to
reach it no matter what. I was getting up at 4.30 every morning, eat my
breakfast and go to gym to do my first cardio session. At lunch time I was
doing my weights workout and later my second cardio. Sometimes, it was very
hard to find a time to do my workouts. I did not miss any of my cardio
sessions in 5 month! Crazy? Yes! Even now I don't know how I did it! Every time
I had to choose to go out with my friends or do my workouts. Every day I was writing
down into my journal everything what I ate and what workouts I did. If I
had all my meals and workouts done in time, I would put - Good Girl! If I
cheated (yes I had it too!) - Bad Girl! Sometimes "Bad Girl" was more
than "Good Girl". I could not believe, looking at myself in a mirror,
I have ABS! Six packs! And shoulders, and biceps! I thought that only girls
from fitness magazines could have nice defined muscles! Not me! But it was
real! I was so happy. After completing
“Transformation program” and seeing how my body has changed I decided to go
father and try to compete in figure competition. Never in my life I did not
think about being on a stage in tiny-tiny bikini. No way! And I did it! It was
the best expiries in my life. I took 1 st place and overall in my second
show! All my hard work paid off!
All my life everybody was telling me that I am not strong enough, not pretty
enough, not good enough! One day one of my really good friend helped me to
overcome this “not good enough” image. She said, “You have to do it. You
have got to prove it to yourself. For first time in my life, I felt like
someone believed in me. It gave me the strength to believe in myself.” I was
working my butt off at the gym every day, twice and sometimes three times a day!
One of the biggest challenges was getting family, my friends and co-workers to
understand why I chose not to eat birthday cake and pizza at parties. And
why instead of going out and staying awake till next day, I would go sleep
earlier so I can get up at 4.30 am and do my cardio. My friend and co-workers
called me crazy. Because for me it is not just a diet and workouts, it is my
lifestyle and I love it! Being
on that stage and holding my first place trophy gave me so much power. I
understood, if you really want something go for it! Put that goal and go.
Believe in yourself and you will succeed.
Because of my accomplishments, I am more outgoing, adventurous and confident.
Today, I share my knowledge with others as a training and nutritional coach.
I have an athletic background: I was in swimming team for 5 years,
Martial Arts ( judo, sambo, jiu-jitzu) for 8 years. Had to stop fighting
because of my figure competitions and fitness model career. Once a while I go
to do some kickboxing or jiu to release some steam…
My day:
5 am
get up ( on my "happy day" I can sleep till 7)
5.20
am cardio (40-50 min) on my treadmill at home ( by my bad, so no excuses that I
didn't have time to go to a gym to do cardio!)
6.20
am breakfast
7 am
at work my first client ( I work as a personal trainer)
12
pm lunch Work 2 or 3 pm weights workout
Work
6 pm
dinner 7 pm second cardio (if I am getting ready for a competition )
10.30-11
pm go to sleep.
On weekends I
work only till 3 pm so I can have some fun.
I am
a personal trainer and fitness model. My work places are Studio City Fitness
private gym in Studio City, LA and a private gyms in Hollywood and Santa
Monica. I also do online nutrition, supplements and training consultations.
www.sashabrownpt.com. As a fitness model I work at fitness and health expos,
book photoshoots for fitness magazines, clothing and apparel.
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