NY Diva Sarah Margiotta Competes at WBFF World Championships
Hitch Fit Online Client & NY Diva Sarah Margiotta Lands WBFF Pro Status & Competes at WBFF
I’m so excited to share WBFF Pro Sarah Margiotta’s story with you today! It has been so much fun working with this little lady and seeing her grow in so many ways!! I’ve now had the chance to work with Sarah through two competition Prep’s. I’ve seen her confidence grow and build throughout this journey as well as seen her consistently improve on her physique, she has stepped up as a leader and she’s now inspiring a lot of other girls. She is open and honest with the struggles that she has had with self image, and I commend her highly for that, and am so proud of her for not just going through a physical transformation with Hitch Fit, but a mental and emotional one as well. I was first introduced to Sarah via Lindsay Messina’s NY Divas group (an AMAZING group of ladies!!), she wanted to train for the WBFF Fitness Atlantic in the Diva Fitness Model category. Sarah always worked hard, always pushed herself and even when she had moments of doubt she still kept her eye on the prize. Sarah stepped on stage at the Fitness Atlantic and ROCKED it, she landed 1st Place and her WBFF Pro status! I will never forget the excited messages I got that night from Sarah and fellow NY Diva (and also WBFF Pro!!) Coryn Martin, it was so awesome, and put a huge smile on my face! But this little lady wasn’t done yet!! She decided to step on stage at the WBFF World Championships in August 2012, and she was fierce! She represented all that a WBFF Pro Diva Fitness Model should be and I couldn’t be more proud of her and blessed to be a part of her fitness journey!! Congrats Sarah, this is just the beginning!
Sarah’s Stats:
Starting Weight: 123.7
Ending Weight: 109
Starting Body Fat: 19%
Ending Body Fat: 10%
Sarah’s Story:
“I have this quality that is my greatest asset; however, it is also my greatest downfall. And despite knowing this for a very long time, I was still unable to make it a strong point rather than a weakness, consistently, and without support. I am all or none. When I am in it, I am in it to win it and will not fall short of my goal even if it kills me. But when I am out, I am OUT for the count!
For as long as I can remember, sports have been part of my life. However, it did not mean I always loved them. Stemming from my all or none mentality, I could not understand discontinuing something that I was good at, or doing ANYTHING if I would not be the best at it, allowing others to see my shortcomings. This is not to say that I never enjoyed playing soccer, as it was a tremendous part of my life for 15+ years. However, I realized as I graduated high school, that a large component of my enjoyment was related to excelling in the sport. I excelled because I trained hard at those times that others were not in order to be as close to my ideal as possible. Through all of this training toward perfection, I realized that I LOVED the training aspect of sport more than the games themselves, most of the time, because you could NEVER lose!
Most of my all or none mentality grew from striving toward perfection, knowing that others would be witness to my successes and shortcomings (on and off the field). With training, however, there is no one to know or objectively monitor your successes and failures other than you. In addition, I was also driven by the fact that there are no limits when training. Constant goals can be set, and more often than not, achievements can be registered. Since I can remember, I have always found that my stress level is directly related to my perception of others’ expectations of me. The better I did at anything, the higher I perceived others’ expectations to be of me, and the higher my stress level to achieve a greater level of excellence in whatever the goal was.
This is where the all or NONE kicks in. Throughout my life, such instances of exceedingly high perceived expectations have led me to throw in the towel. I do not ever give up BEFORE starting; but if I falter along the way, that clear path and vision of attaining my goal has often become completely blurred. I begin to see bumps in the road as mountains, since it had become too difficult to envision my ideal to be yielded by maneuvering my way along a bumpy road. Although this mentality is far off from that which we all know to be true in goal attainment, I was at least able to recognize the absurdity in my thought processes and those things that triggered this stress. Therefore, upon graduating high school, I decided that I would pursue a degree in Exercise Science at the University of Delaware in order to learn more about training in all aspects, as it had always been the most fulfilling component of sport to me. In addition, I found fascination in the science behind being bigger, faster, and stronger with only personal bests and standards set by the individuals pursuing their goals.
I could not have hoped for a greater experience while earning my Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science. I became extremely involved in the fitness community at my school, all the while, tearing out pages from Oxygen Magazine and creating vision boards of goal physiques that I would someday like to achieve. After graduating with a bachelor’s, as well as earning an informal education through Oxygen Magazine, I was certain that I wanted to achieve this fitness model look. However, despite all the knowledge that I acquired over 4 years, I knew that I would not be able to achieve this look without an expert in the field, as the diet alone requires someone seasoned in giving nutritional advice in order to attain such results.
I sought out a team of well-known coaches in the fitness industry, and participated in 2 physique competitions under their direction. Although I felt amazing standing on stage, it was the aftermath that really brought me back to the negative side of the all or none mindset. I’d worked my butt off to achieve what I thought to be my best self to date; and after one week off plan, I felt that I was not only back at square one, but seemingly even FURTHER from my starting point. This was a skewed thought resultant from the discrepancy between my exceedingly positive self-perception when my body was ready for the stage (thought that was the best it’d get for stage at that point) and my perception of self when looking in the mirror at what was normal to everyone else in the world post-show. Although I was warned about this “trauma” post-show, I was certain that I had screwed it up BIG TIME! I’d faltered immediately, and could not picture returning to my best self, let alone, PROGRESSING with my physique for another competition. And so I began my NONE (no dieting, no working out, no liking my body one bit). I was certain that everyone would say, “No way! That is NOT the same girl that just did a fitness competition in barely any clothes!”, and I isolated myself, intending to get back on track JUST ENOUGH to work myself back into my social circles and to check in with coaches to prepare for another fitness competition. It took a while to reach the turning point, but I got to it, and stood on stage again. And, yes, the cycle continued.
I knew there was something that had to change. I knew that the advice that I give others is what I should have been listening to myself: 1) No mistake is too big to recover from 2) SOME is ALWAYS better than NONE; and 3) Don’t try to be PERFECT, because NOTHING is perfect! Thankfully, I have been blessed with a team of beautiful women, the NY Divas, who are in pursuit of fitness-related goals. My teammates, Coryn, Kerri, and Jocelyn (sisters) had all begun new training plans with Diana and Micah of Hitch Fit. What interested me most was the differences among the 3 plans, as I found it to be very individualized and constantly changed based on each person’s body changes from week to week. In addition, this Diana lady was someone who the 3 spoke so highly of only within a few weeks of starting their programs. I was inspired by their weekly successes, as I saw them often; and was even more inspired by the constant communication and feedback they seemed to have with their coach, Diana. I knew that I needed this constant feedback. I needed someone to let me know that I was NUTS when my perceptions were not valid; and someone who would encourage me or tell me how to fix the “mole hills” so that they did not become “mountains” in my own head.
So I signed up for Hitch Fit and I was ALL IN, again. This time, though, the bumps in the road were smoothed over by constant feedback from Diana. If there were changes in my body that were negative because I “messed up”, I felt comfortable putting all of my confidence in her to get me back on the path to achieve my goal of competing in the WBFF Fitness Atlantic Competition. Prior to setting out on my Hitch Fit journey, I had faith in the process, if I remained on plan. If all things were not perfect, however, I felt it futile to continue, feeling as if I would not be able to make up for time lost, calories miscounted, or just pure lack of energy to power a workout to my satisfaction. Since I began working with Diana, I innately trusted her expertise and her ability to redirect my focus, as she exudes a positive, nurturing, and understanding attitude even though solely through email! My mind seemed to be put at ease when my questions could not only be answered quickly, but she assured me that although I did not see myself as where I needed to be through my competition prep, that she had the same vision as I did and I was EXACTLY on target. Her faith in getting me where I wanted to be on April 14th, allowed me to continue with a positive attitude (small freak outs along the way) even without being able to acknowledge physical self-progress.
Through the reassurance Diana gave me along the way, I was gradually able to see that my own expectations far exceeded those that were the reality of a fitness competitor, as one should be saving their self-proclaimed “perfect self” for the stage. Is has been through Diana, a fitness pro herself, that I have learned what is expected of someone competing in physique competitions. The expectations that I imagined others having of me seemed less and less significant, as I realized that perfection at every moment is not feasible for attaining the physique of a fitness model, as there are many phases of competition prep. For change to occur, sometimes things may look worse, before they start looking better. But if we don’t experience what I previously thought to be set-backs, progress may not be as significant as if there weren’t any of those instances.
On April 14th, 2012, not only was I able to get on stage and compete in the WBFF Fitness Atlantic Competition, but at the end of the night I held a WBFF Pro Card in one hand and a 1st place trophy in another. And this time around, I have learned enough after one 12 week program to know that staying on point and achieving the goals that I want to achieve are not things that I could have done without the guidance of someone as genuine and as knowledgeable as Diana. Everyone may require something in their competition prep or in their journey to achieve other health goals that may necessitate the expertise of people such as Diana and Micah LaCerte of Hitch Fit. No matter what your goal, these are two people that can complement your self-doubt or other self-acknowledged deficits until you have achieved what you are striving for. I am certain that I have become more realistic in my expectations and certain that “bumps in the road” are just that–BUMPS IN THE ROAD. Just as I now understand the challenges of competition prep as it deviates from a “normal lifestyle”, I am more than relieved to know that Diana will be there to guide me to my debut as a WBFF Pro on August 25th!
I am ALL IN and STAYING ALL IN! ”
Having fun backstage at the WBFF Fitness Atlantic with fellow Hitch Fitters & NY Diva’s Coryn Martin and Roseanne Federici!
Sarah accepting her WBFF Pro card!
Sarah’s Program Choice: Online Competition Prep – For Those who are Ready to Step on Stage!
How “Lo” Can You Go? How to Get a J. Lo Body
https://hitchfit.com/2012-06-01/fitness/how-lo-can-you-go-how-to-get-a-j-lo-body/
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