Exclusive Interview with NPC Bikini Star Lauren Triani
Lauren Triani is a up-and-coming bikini competitor. She is young and motivated which seems to be a winning combination! Lauren talks about the trials and triumphs of her first year competing as a NPC bikini athlete; switching from powerlifter to bikini, diet and training, as well as her future aspirations.
You competed in sports prior to bikini, what were they and how do you think those have prepared you to be the athlete you are now?
The sports I competed in prior to bikini were; powerlifting, flag football, cheerleading, dance (ballet, tap jazz, and hip hop) and gymnastics. I started ballet and gymnastics at four years old. I learned very quickly what dedication meant. As little girl, my weekends were spent inside a dance studio, gymnastics gym, or at a competition instead of a birthday party or park like most other girls. The sacrifices at this young age developed my strong love for sports, especially the more challenging sports. At dance and cheerleading competitions I performed in arenas full of hundreds of people screaming and yelling. This prepared me for the stage presence portion of competing. Being a part of a sport team definitely taught me how important it is to have a good attitude no matter what the outcome is. Each of the sports I have competed in have taught me something about dedication, willfulness, and positive attitude which have created the athlete I am today!
What has the transition been like from powerlifting to bikini? How has your training changed? Do you miss training that way? What is your typical training look like now?
The transition from powerlifting wasn’t easy. The training styles and diets between the two are night and day. Bikini training and diet has transformed my body into what I have always wanted to look like. My training has done a complete 180! Powerlifting is all about how much you can lift, so my training consisted of heavy sets short reps, maxing out on bench press, deadlift, clean and jerk once a week. Bikini training is all about being lean and toned, which means high intensity workouts with light to moderate weight. I use supersets, plyometrics, and cardio to achieve my bikini body. Once in a while I will get a craving to throw in a set of cleans and jerks into my training but I do it with light weight and make sure my form is perfect. Even with little to no weight it is extremely easy to get hurt doing such a fast twitch movement. Slowly but surely I grew to love the bikini athlete style of training. I can't imagine a day without an hour of stairmaster intervals or glute cable kickbacks!
What
has been the most difficult for you during a contest prep?
The most challenging for me is the dieting! My family owns a fine dining Italian restaurant. My father is the owner and chef. He loves to cook at home and he brings tons of food from the restaurant. The first week of my diet, I honestly cried when I looked at my food compared to what in my fridge. As my body progressed my taste for the pasta faded away because I saw what boiled chicken and tilapia was doing to my body.
What is your favorite cheat meal? And your staple meal prep food?
Cheat meal would have to be vanilla ice cream. That's the one thing I do have a weakness for... My favorite clean meal is 4 oz of boiled chicken with a tsp of Texas Pete garlic hot sauce, and 5 oz of green beans with 2 diced cloves of fresh garlic
What do you enjoy most about competing?
My favorite part about competing is being on stage. The rush I felt the first time I stepped on a NPC stage was amazing! Being able to step on stage with a big smile, present the overall package that I sculpted for months was the proudest moment I have felt in life to date. I also love being around all the other athletes backstage. I have met so many new friends and inspirational people from going to shows. I feel very blessed to have met all these wonderful people.
It's one of those days, you're tired, sore and have a million errands but need to work out. How do you motivate yourself to get through it?
On the days that I can barely get of bed, it was leg day the day before and I have errands to run (buy food for my meals is the most common errand) go to class, and work, making time to workout is hard. I learned very quickly that your mind can get the best of you. Your mind controls what your body does. If you have it drilled in your brain that you are too tired or too sore then that is how your body is going to feel. I had to wake up at 5AM sometimes to workout, especially toward the end of my prep when I was doing two hours of cardio a day and weight training. The last thing I wanted to do after a 5AM workout is go home and cook all my meals for the day, then go to school or work. I mentally prepared myself to do it all and I did, the outcome was worth more then 
I could have ever imagined.
Name the 2 most inspirational people to you (fitness people or other) and why do they inspire you?
Two people that I look up to and that inspire me are; my coach Sarah Long and my mother, Miriam Triani. My coach Sarah Long is one of the people in this world I inspire to be. I am a part of Team Long, which is a nationally ranked team that Sarah runs along with her husband IFBB Pro Don Long. Sarah has given me support and guidance each day throughout my prep, day of my show, and now off season. Sarah goes above and beyond the regular duties as a coach and has become like a second mother to me, she is my fitness mommy. Hopefully, one day I will have a group of girls to mentor like my coach has done with so many girls. I cannot express how thankful I am to be part of such an amazing team (well fitness family as I like to say) with such a genuinely loving coach!
My mom is backbone, my rock and my best friend. My mom was born in Havana, Cuban and came to the US when she was 5 years old not knowing any English or knowing anyone except her parents and sister. My mom raised me as a single mother and busted her butt everyday when I was growing up to make sure that I had the best education, best dance class, best gymnastics coach, best Barbie dolls, and best life she could give me. All my successes would be so much harder if I didn’t have her to talk to when I would have one of those bad days or I got behind on my meal prep. I do owe a lot of my success to my mom for being there for me 100%, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during my prep. My mom inspires me because of all the hardships she overcame in her life. From coming to this country with nothing and not knowing the language to having a great job, holding down a household, making time to help me with my meals and help me with posing, is what makes her the most amazing mother. I hope one day I can be half the mother to my children as my mother is to me.
Have people (family friends) been supportive of your lifestyle change? If not how have you dealt with it?
Most of my family members have been very supportive of my lifestyle change. I am always get positive feedback and complements about my overall physical and mental changes. On occasion, I do get a sly remark from someone when I say no to a dessert at family functions but I just laugh it off.
Unfortunately, most of my “friends” did not support me when I talked about wanting to become a bikini athlete. I am much better without the negativity of those certain people in my life. With the new lifestyle I have made new friends who share the same ambitions, dreams and goals as me.
The most important thing I have learned in my journey to become a bikini athlete is to love yourself first then you can dedicate yourself to change. One day I hope to inspire other young women to blossom into their full potential just like I have, by teaching them to love and respect themselves and as a result everything else in life will fall into place.
What are your goals for this next year, how do you plan to achieve them?
My goal for 2013 is to earn my pro card! I said “earn” not “get” because everything in life should be earned. It should not just be given to you because you say you want it.
I plan to achieve my pro status by staying focused, dedicated, following my training and diet to the tee. It is very easy to get derailed from training and dieting during the holidays. It is especially difficult for me during the warm spring/summer months living only 10 minutes away from the beach; I want to go to the beach all day rather than go to the gym.
I am hoping to earn it in May at the Jr USA's, but if not I will keeping training and competing until I achieve my goal. I understand that nothing happens overnight, especially in this sport and even if I do not turn pro this year or even the next I will still keep pushing and pushing until I have that pro card in my hands! Nothing can stop me or distract me. I have my eye on the prize.
Hopefully, this coming year I will be ble
ssed with the opportunity to attend two of the biggest shows of the year; The Arnold Sports Festival and The Olympia. To attend these two amazing shows would be one of the greatest opportunities I've had as an athlete.
This year I also plan to surround myself with people who support me and my goal to turn pro. Negative people who mock my dreams and goals I will permanently remove from my life.
What are your overall fitness goals, where do you see yourself ending up?
My overall fitness goal is one day be able to open a gym and start a nutrition/supplement line geared toward kids and teens. Weight issues among kids and teens in the United States are shocking! If you walk around schools today you will see more than half the students are overweight, obese or malnourished. School lunches are full of fat and sodium, P.E. has been removed from the daily curriculum in most public schools. In many circumstances, the parents of these children are not educated about balanced diet and exercise.
The dream is that my gym franchise will have classes, sport specific training, machines and all the right equipment for kids and teens to workout on. Kids and teens that are overweight usually aren’t on the school basketball team or football team which is why I would love to open up a gym where they feel comfortable and not ashamed of their size. Everyone should have a place where they are accepted and feel comfortable. Kids are meaner than ever, I was teased all my life (still am) because of how tiny I am. I dream that my gym can provide that friendly safe environment where kids and teens can get healthy, workout, and meet new friends going through the same issues.
Lauren would like to thank her mother, coaches, and sponsors for the unconditional support. Look for Lauren Triani at 2013 national shows, as this year she will be a competitive bikini competitor!
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