Monique Cormier, who has overcome obesity and severe depression en route to becoming a world class amateur bodybuilder, joins Dave [ ... ]
Spotlight On NPC Bikini Competitor: Lesley Bimonte
Category you compete in: Bikini
Date of birth: 3/15/83 (30 years old)
Hometown: Miami, Florida (I've lived in Columbus, Ohio for 10 years.)
Career: Physicist working as a Senior Quality Analyst at a major Lawn & Garden Company
Competition history:
March 2012 - NPC Natural Ohio, Class B 6th place
November 2012 - NPC Mid Atlantic Grand Prix, Class B 2nd place
February 2013 - IFBB Arnold Amateur, Class B 5th place
March 2013 - NPC Northern Kentucky, Class B 4th place
April 2013 - NPC Natural Ohio, Class B 1st place
Next competition:
IFBB North American Championships
What do you feel is the WORST part of contest prep?
The worst part of contest prep, hands down, is losing out on date nights. I definitely miss going out for a romantic dinner or grabbing a glass of wine with my boyfriend. It's even hard for me to do an activity such as bowling, shooting pool, festivals, or movies, without wanting to get something to eat, so I just avoid it altogether. It's very important to know your limitations. I know some people who can still go out yet avoid the no-no food temptations. I'm just not one of them, and I know this about myself. My honey and I have replaced these going out nights with things like long baths together, renting movies, gym dates, and nature walks. It definitely helps that he is a competitor as well and we try to keep our seasons aligned. There is nothing like having someone going through the same thing as you, and I wouldn't trade that for anything!
Would you please tell us a little about your workout schedule?
It definitely took some trial and error to come up with a schedule and split that fit the rest of my work/life schedule, but I’m finally content with what I have. I do upper body and abs two days a week - one day with a back focus and one day with a shoulder focus - and lower body two days a week - one day with a quad focus and one day with a hamstring focus. My split falls on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday or Sunday depending on how the rest of life falls that week! During my off season, it’s nice to have that flexibility, but during competition prep I’ll add in cardio on Saturday when necessary and Sunday as my weight training day. My training will include two to three exercises for each muscle group I’m focusing on that day. My set and rep number varies based on how close to the stage I am and Coach Eric Broser’s Power-Rep Range-Shock program. Have to keep those muscles guessing! In addition to the weight training, I do a Zumba® class two night a week. Yes, it lets me get two 45 minute aerobic/cardio sessions in, but mostly I do it because I love to dance!
If you had to lose o
ne of your 5 senses, which one would you prefer to lose and why?
PREFER to lose? I’m not sure I’d prefer to lose any of them! But if I had to choose one, I suppose my sense of smell would have the least negative impact on my day to day life. Although, it would be handy to be able to “turn off” a sense! I love to cook and I wouldn’t want to LOSE my sense of taste, but it would be handy to be able to turn it off during competition prep. Not because I don’t like the taste of my prep food. Not at all! But I think it would help minimize cravings when they do come along. If I can’t taste something, maybe I wouldn’t crave it. That would be pretty cool to be able to switch that off when I need it to power through!
If you could change one thing about this sport, what would it be?
Oh how I wish we could make it less subjective! It can get very discouraging trying to improve towards one judge's opinion or another's. Sometimes you just wish you could scream "but the judge last time said....!" Or you could be up against the same girl in back to back competitions just a couple weeks apart and have the placings be completely different from one to the next because it was all about what that set of judges wanted to see that day. I have to constantly remind myself that I'm working towards a body that I think is ideal and if the judges like it as well, well, that's just icing on the cake.
If you had a time capsule, what would you put inside it and why?
I wish I had old pictures of myself to put in there. When I was young, all the way through high school, I never had to worry about what I ate or how I managed my health. I was an avid dancer on a competition squad, practicing and training upwards of 15-20 hours a week and of course with a young metabolism. While I've never stopped dancing (still doing so today), the near endless hours of cardio came to a stop. Between my college and just post college years, I packed on an unflattering 30 pounds. Along with that came the aversion to showing off my body and the avoidance of pictures. After I started my fitness journey just over a year ago, I tried to go back looking for "before" pictures, and I just don't have any. I'd like to put images of the "before" me in there to remind myself where I started and how far I've come.
What is your favorite vacation spot?
Somewhere where I don’t have to wear a bikini! Ok, so that might be an exaggeration and, not that I have self image issues, but you never feel as good in a bikini as you do when you’re ready to step on stage and if I’m going on vacation, it’s during my off season so the beach is not my first choice. As a couple, we like to do active vacations where we can keep busy. Just over Memorial Day weekend we enjoyed a quaint B&B along the Monogahela River in Southwest Pennsylvania while we went hiking and horseback riding. Rafting was in the agenda but unfortunately the weather was still a little too cold. The last time we did have a beach vacation though, we went kayaking through the J.N. Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge where we were delighted to be greeted by the friendliest manatee who just kept wanting to check out our kayak. I can sit on my couch at home, if I want to go on vacation, I want to do something I can’t do at home!
What advice do you have for women who would like to get involved in and compete in the sport of bodybuilding?
You don’t have to agree with everyone’s journey, but be supportive regardless; you’d want the same. How many of us get teased for our lifestyle (whether the comments have malicious intent or not) and get frustrated by it? That’s not any different than one athlete who only lifts weights teasing another who enjoys taking an aerobic dance class. Or someone who swears by sweet potatoes berating another athlete for their rice cakes. You don’t necessarily know the rest of their story or their journey or why they have the regimen they have. I get very defensive when “real bodybuilders” make fun of me for my Zumba® classes because they say its a joke of a workout. But what they don’t know is that I’ve been a dancer my entire life and absolutely love that I can combine two of my passions in one 45 minute session: dance and bodybuilding. We get upset when people outside the industry poke fun of us; we don’t need it from our peers as well.
What is a day-in-the-life of Lesley like?
I don't get up at the crack of dawn, but I still consider myself a relativ
ely easy morning person. I already wake up at 6:00 am just to get to work on time, so no morning workouts for me. However, if I’m within two weeks of a competition, I’ll wake up earlier for some fasted morning cardio.
Since I do food prep for the entire week on Sunday, it only takes minutes to load up my cooler with all the food I need for the day and then I’m off to nine hours of work (which will span three meals). I know I should get a fourth one in there but I’ll admit that is difficult with my work schedule. I’m lucky that I’ve been able to make three meals during the work day work for me.
On my training days it’s straight to the gym after work with my favorite workout partner, my boyfriend Scott. Work and home is a solid 25 minutes to the gym so the to and from the gym chews up an extra hour in my day. After the gym it’s home to play with our little bug (he’s three and a half and still has too much energy for this late in the day) while I make dinner. Even though I do all of our food prep ahead of time, I still make a “fresh” dinner because we love to sit down to dinner all together. That’s very important to us. Our little one is great too, he knows nothing outside of yogurt, oatmeal, eggs, chicken, sweet potatoes, avocados, applesauce, and vegetables yet (okay and chocolate milk) and we’re going to keep it that way as long as possible! If it’s a dance night, I’m off to the studio while Scott bathes and puts him to sleep. Then the two of us get maybe an hour to crash on the couch with our last protein snack of the day before bed.
Favorite Motivational Quote:
“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.” - Buddha
In closing, who would you like to give a shout out to?
HUGE shout out to my coach, Eric Broser, the reason I look the way I do! My diet and my workouts are all courtesy of him. The support and faith he had in me to do well was overpoweringly evident when he asked me to be a part of his brand team for Broser Built International. I’m still so honored and excited over this. His support, along with the the rest of the BBI team, Luke Cameron, Tom Tank Schaaf, and Kyle Harris, keep me wanting to be a better athlete!
While my team is amazing, there is no way possible that I would be as successful as I am without the man that is there day in and day out through all the sore muscles, tears, upsetting progress reports, undesired competition results, and of course cheat meals! Scott Nova is my rock and the reason I get up and do this each day. I love you, babydoll.
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