It wasn't so much that she saw herself as inspiration, but instead looked at body building as a way to practice what she preached and intensify her way of life.
Jacqie Walz grew up in Biggar as a sports enthusiast and at 26 she competed in her first ever body building competition April 6. In Regina, Walz participated in the Saskatchewan Body Building Association's novice championship. After 20 weeks of intense training, Walz placed second in the women's bikini short division. She jokingly said she felt like one of the veterans of the group as many of her competitors where nearly seven years younger.
As a fitness trainer and owner of Snap Fitness, Walz viewed body building as an opportunity to achieve a goal and dedicate herself to training and dieting for the competition.
"I thought that since I own a gym I should walk the walk," said Walz. "If you can live the lifestyle of what you are preaching people might think, 'well maybe I can do that, too.'"
Walz's training routine included six days a week at the gym with nearly two hours of weight training and half an hour of cardio, but the eating part was the most difficult. Walz ate six to seven times a day on a strict diet. She says that once the competition was over, she sampled many of the food she missed during her 20 weeks of training when her main meal featured three ounces of chicken and some vegetables.
Nearly a month after her competition, Walz is focused once again on a meal plan and working out five days a week and back in a routine and the lifestyle she created. Working out at the gym became a mainstay in her life once she was no longer playing competitive sports and needed to find ways to stay active.
"The gym is something you can do once you get out of school and you get older," explained Walz. "I don't love the gym. I own a gym, but I don't love the gym. I don't like cardio, but I do like lifting weights and I like being in shape. You have to do the stuff you dislike and incorporate more of the stuff you like."
The competition in Regina itself was something Walz went into not knowing what to expect, but she was more than satisfied when the results were announced and the day was finished capping off weeks of hard work. Her trainer, Kim Gonzales, believed she would fall into the top five in her category and of the 14 in her division she was happy to be second on that list.
"It was pretty overwhelming sitting in a group of 150 people who are in ultimate shape," said Walz. "I have never experienced something like that before, but I met some pretty amazing girls, who had some amazing stories. It was an amazing experience and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done with my life."
Walz compared training for the body building competition to opening her business as far as potential stress and the time commitment and dedication needed for both major life changing events. There were definitely some down days throughout her training, but Walz says she had great support from her husband, trainer and friends and was able to stick with it despite feeling weak at times throughout her training.
Gonzales, who lives in Regina, was too far away to meet in person during Walz's training. The two of them did most of their communicating via messaging back and forth. Walz would send pictures and logs of what she had done in the gym and what she ate and Gonzales would comment and continue to help with her progression.
As a self-proclaimed tomboy, Walz said she was nervous to be up on stage in front of people in a bikini and high heels and said the poses were the hardest part of the show. In the end it was something she wanted to achieve and something she is happy accomplished.
"The reason I wanted to do it was because I wanted to say I was in the best shape I could ever be in," said Walz. "I wanted to eat as good as I could and I wanted to work out as hard as I could. I needed a goal scary enough to make me do it."
Walz says that what may be next for her in body building would be to win a competition. That is something she will decide in the coming months when she determines if she is willing to do the intensive training once again.
"I think it is kind of like getting a tattoo, you have to forget about how much it hurts before you decide you want to get another one, or in this case do it again," said Walz.
