A photographer has dropped five dress sizes and become a bodybuilder after trying to get fit during lockdown.
Colette Evans, 34, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, has gone on to win eight trophies having lost 3st 6lb.
She began her weightlifting journey in October 2020 when lockdown restrictions lifted and places started opening up again.
She joined her local gym and worked with a personal trainer to help achieve her goals.
With little else to do, Colette started focusing on her new hobby which saw her visit the gym up to six days a week.
“Lifting weights at home throughout the lockdown really helped me have a positive focus in my day and made me feel alive,” Colette told Jam Press.
“I was definitely more tired before I started this journey as I wasn’t fuelling my body with optimal nutrition before I started training again.
“The thing I like about bodybuilding is no one can take your hard work away from you, you can’t buy it.
“If you don’t do the work, there’s no result.”
Colette did have a history with weight training but prior to lockdown, she hadn’t done it in five years.
She first started when she was aged 16 but says she didn’t learn how to do it properly until she met her husband in a gym a decade ago.
In 2015, she entered a NABBA Athletic Figure competition.
Colette said: “I vowed never again.
“My husband helped me to build my confidence with free weights, correct technique and encouraged me to follow a more traditional bodybuilding programme.
“But I didn’t really enjoy it. I didn’t like the 20-week diets or standing on stage.”
She then parked her competition days – until the first lockdown when Colette decided it was time to pick up training again with weights at home.
After losing weight, she then joined her local gym where she met personal trainer Joe who agreed to train her for competitions.
Colette said: “My goal to stand on stage was made after I lost a good amount of fat during the later part of 2020 and I decided I wanted to give competing a shot again, this time in natural federations.
“With the support of Joe, and my coach, Nik Dodson, as a team they gave me the confidence that we could achieve something great.”
She competed at her first competition in years in August 2021 – an IFBA qualifier in Skegness, where she entered figure and physique classes.
She said: “I’d really focused on practicing my posing with my posing coach Claire, it was challenging as I had two categories to learn different posing styles for and a routine to learn.
“I’d only decided to enter three and a half weeks before, so it was a lot of work.
“I was nervous but my confidence grew each day. I had the right team around me, all of whom believed in me and this really helped.”
Although she won her classes and was invited to the British finals to compete, she decided not to pursue that competition any further.
Since then, Colette, who runs her own business Picture Perfect Photography, has gone on to win eight trophies.
She has also been awarded a British title in Women’s Bodybuilding, plus the women’s overall trophy at the Natural Physique Association and ranked third in Europe at UKDFBA UK International Championship.
Her gruelling training sees her work out six times a week, mixing weight training with swimming and cardio sessions.
Colette added: “There’s so much more to bodybuilding than just the aesthetics.
“It teaches you lessons on how to focus the mind, how to use your determination even when you’ve run out of motivation, how to be patient and enjoy the process, it teaches you gratitude and discipline.
“To become a bodybuilder, you must be organised in every aspect of your life and learn how to integrate your eating & training into life and work.
“Bodybuilding has changed me as a person and has helped me believe in myself again.”
Colette is now training for the world championships in 2022 and is currently eating 4,000 calories a day in the lead-up to the competition.
She added: “I’ve been confirmed as a part of team GB, then strive to go on to win my pro card and qualify for the natural Olympia.
“At the minute I’m on around 4,000 calories a day of clean food to help fuel my training and build muscle.
“My coach will tell me what to do when it comes to diet but we’re reducing calories bit by bit from May to maximise muscle retention and drop fat. As a natural bodybuilder, it’s important that you give your body time to adapt.
“I’ve got a goal to work towards so I never get bored of it.
“We change my training program every six weeks and when you’re getting stronger and feel strong you feel good about it.
“A lot of people have told me that I’ve inspired them or they are proud of me and others don’t like the muscular look.
“Either way, that’s their own preference but as long as I’m confident in my own skin, I’m progressing with my goals and I’m healthy, then that’s all that matters.
“Anything is possible, even if you think it’s not possible, surround yourself with people that believe in you and have a vision for you.”
DIET BEFORE
Breakfast – fasted until 2pm
Lunch – tuna sandwich and banana
Dinner – stir fry and rice
Snacks – banana pre-workout
DIET AFTER/NOW – six meals per day
Breakfast – oats, berries, grapefruit, eggs, almond butter
Lunch – beef or salmon, sweet potato, avocado
Dinner – chicken or white fish, white rice and broccoli or stir fry veg
Snacks – meal two: chicken thigh and sweet potato or rice, almond butter
Pre-workout – oats and whey isolate and berries
Post-workout – dates and whey isolate
Meal six before bed – eggs and almond butter
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