Overwieght to modeling: Meet Donna Gillie

Donna is a bad ass woman from Mount uniacke Nova Scotia Canada who completely transformed her life dropping 115 pounds. Aside from fitness, family and friends, she also loves to bake and race motorcycles. 😀 yep… bad ass.

Donna’s trainers are Jodi Livingston @iamprincessfox and Matthew fox @iammatthewfox of Lean Aesthetics @leanaesthetics Check them out!

As a pre-teen, about the age of 10 I noticed I was a bit bigger than other girls. It didn’t really bother me – but when I think back and reflect I. Some ways my weight made me hold back on participating in certain Social activities like dances and parties. I was still social but didn’t like larger events and at times I could be shy and insecure.

I began to change my eating habits in my mid-twenties. After spending the better part of 10 yrs being over weight I had enough and needed to change for myself.

My rock bottom would honestly be just feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. It got to the point when sitting at my desk was uncomfortable so I had to start making changes to feel better mentally and physically. My peak weight was 230 pounds and I am 5’3″.

My first time at the gym was awesome. Don’t get me wrong it was difficult – but it was so nice to feel alive. Even though I struggled with each new task – I always attacked my workouts with a positive attitude and a tenacity knowing the changes to come would make my life better in so many ways.

In total I lost 115lbs. Mind you that was for a bikini competition – and personally it’s not sustainable for me to stay at 115 lbs all year long because I have goals of building more muscle. Right now i’m about 145 lbs and currently enjoying my diet and training program to reach my goals. When I do my next show I anticipate being a lean 125 lbs with more muscle mass than my 115 lbs physique.

I eat mostly clean foods. I try to get between 20-25g of fiber daily and keep my sugar below 40-50g a day. I follow “IIFYM” style dieting – this means if i want to have a treat or something like a meal out i just fit it within my Protein, fats and carbohydrate macro nutrients. I also try to drink about 4L of water a day to help with digestion and staying hydrated because of my training.

I usually go to the gym 6-7 times a week for a half hour to hour and a half depending on training requirements for the day.

I did my first bikini contest in 2015 and I’ve competed twice. I never placed-not even close. But I compete for myself, not for any plastic trophy. Its was my personal cherry on my fitness cake to take part in a competition after losing the 115 lbs – I wanted to build my body and have fun presenting it to inspire people to do the same.

If you are reading this and thinking “what is a bikini contest?” A bikini contest is a fitness competition where you are judged on aesthetics, muslce tone, symmetry and presentation. Everything matters from hair, make up, suit selection, posing and overall stage presence. It’s thought to be a very superficial sport – but I can tell you first hand it’s much more than that. The ladies and gentlemen who compete are some of the nicest people I’ve met on my fitness journey and I’ve learned so much from them.

I still look at myself just like every other person. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m perfectly imperfect and I’m okay with that. I have days where I feel good about my body – but I also have times where I have self doubt and pick myself a part. I think it’s normal for men and women to do that to themselves. I try to remain in a positive mindset. Sometimes even when you loose a great amount of weight you still mentally can’t let go of your old self. I’m lucky to have a very support group of friends and family.

I think I had a descent self esteem when I was overweight – but there were times when I’d get down. I always had great friends – a lot of the time I kept my feelings to myself and probably ate out of stress and sadness. I’m better at expressing how I feel now and I think that helps with my mental happiness.

For my body type my trainers tend to keep my carbs a bit lower and protein higher with moderate fats. Right now because I’m trying to cut some body fat, on off days, my macros are somewhat low at 125 grams of carbs, 125 grams of protein and 35 grams of fat. On training days I get 150-175 grams of carbs. It works for me but some people work better with more fats less protein etc.

Diet:

I know personally when I keep my diet cleaner I end up feeling better and having less cravings. Last prep I was able to enjoy refeeds on a regular basis because I didn’t cheat on my diet during prep. Those can be key to keeping you sanity and progress during s longer contest prep. I don’t like to say cheat meals are good – I like to call them refeeds and still keep it to clean foods as much as possible.