by Amy Kempfer

Where to begin, where to begin…

Sometimes, I forget how far I’ve come.

These days, I take my fitness passion for granted. I forget how hard I worked to earn every bit of what I’ve come to be. Before I get ahead of myself, let me introduce myself and provide some background on where I came from.

My name is Amy Kempfer. I’m a 34 year-old Aquarius. I’m 5’8″, love long walks on the beach, romantic movies….oh wait, this isn’t my eHarmony profile!

Seriously though, I sometimes forget how old I am, partly due to the fact that all of my friends are younger than me. I often think I’m still 23!

Anyhow, I’ve been competing in NPC Figure for five years now, having just completed my 12th competition in May at the Jr. USA in Charleston, SC. I’ve yet to place very well on the national level, but I have achieved first place finishes three times at the local level, one second place finish, and all the rest thirds.

Getting in shape has never been easy for me, and staying in shape will always be a challenge. I still struggle with motivation on most days, that’s why I said at the beginning of this article, I forget how far I’ve come sometimes!

The best motivation I can give myself is to remember how it felt to be out of shape, overweight, and lethargic all the time, and remind myself that I never want to feel that way again.

The old Amy.

When I was in high school, I didn’t struggle with my weight too much, but the older I got, the harder it was to keep it off. I didn’t participate in sports, dance, or any kind of physical activity. Before I got my driver’s license, I rode my bike a lot — but that was about it.

Once I got into college, I really packed it on! There were a few times where I may have shed a bit of weight, but by the time I got to be a senior, I was over 180 pounds. And trust me, it wasn’t muscle weight!

I graduated college, got my first job, and packed on some more fat. I was also in a bad relationship and found myself eating out of misery frequently. Furthermore, I had absolutely no physical activity in my life. Thankfully, I was smart enough to get out of that relationship, and ended up losing some weight as a result of that.

I was 24 at the time, and since I’d lost some weight and felt better, I believed looked better, too. It was at that point that I decided to have some “glamour shots” taken. I found a photographer, who told me to bring a bathing suit for some beach-style shots.

The shoot was fun… until I saw the proofs and my big ol’ backside! I was in utter disgust as I realized that I didn’t look nearly as lean as I’d imagined! I thought I had lost weight; I just couldn’t stop imagining how bad I must’ve looked before I’d dropped those few pounds!

It was at this same time that I noticed a girlfriend of mine really trimming down and toning up. I asked her what she was doing, and her response changed my life forever.

Weight training!

“Weight training?! But I don’t want to bulk up, I want to lose weight,” I responded. She calmed my fears, explained that I wouldn’t get “bulky,” and invited me to the gym. “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to join,” she said. I felt that I had nothing to lose, so I went to the gym with her… and believe it or not, I loved it!

I stuck with it for about six months, and while I did slim down a little, I didn’t see the dramatic results I anticipated since I never really changed my diet. Like so many first time gym goers, I got discouraged enough to quit.

Slowly but surely, my jeans got tighter yet again. I decided to get back in the gym, but this time was different. I started questioning some of the lean hotties I saw training, and the answer I got time and time again was, “diet, diet, diet.” One of them recommended that I read a book called “Body for Life” by Bill Phillips. I found the book, bought it, and read it cover to cover in one night!

The very next day, I changed my eating. I still remember the very first diet that I wrote for myself; breakfast consisted of egg beaters and dry wheat toast, lunch was tuna on wheat with lettuce, I found some protein bars I liked for my mini meals, and I’d have fish, brown rice, and veggies for dinner. I used fat free cottage cheese for protein and fruit for carbs sometimes.

The biggest change I made was to start eating every three hours and always including a protein and carbs at each meal, making sure I had vegetables at least twice daily. I really, really stuck with it, and in about three months, everyone wanted to know what I was doing!

I kept telling everyone around me to buy the book; I truly felt that Bill’s the one who changed my life. I still recommend that book constantly!

As time went on, I became quite a student of this clean eating and training lifestyle. I read all the time, I kept an insanely detailed diet log, and asked questions of other members a lot, too. One of the guys I’d chatted with was actually a competitive bodybuilder, and one day, he asked me if I competed.

“Compete in what?,” I said.

He proceeded to tell me about a new division called “figure.” He told me I had the shape for it, and I just burst into laughter as he said that. Me? On stage in a two piece?? Ha! I just kept getting flashbacks to my glamour shoot.

I eventually ended up seeing an Oxygen magazine and saw what “figure” was all about. I thought the girls were all so pretty; they had beautiful figures with meat on their bones rather than looking like stick figures. It was then that I realized that I could see myself doing something like that!

I did some research, found out where the shows were, talked to a few more people, found someone to help me with my diet, and in April of 2004, I stepped on that stage. I haven’t stopped since, and I don’t plan to. It was after my first show that I became a certified personal trainer in hopes of helping others reach their fitness goals.

My Competitive History

2004: NPC Metrolina, 4th place
2005: NPC Metrolina, 3rd place
NPC Palmetto Cup, 3rd place
NPC Mountaineer, 1st place
2006: NPC North Carolina State Championships, 3rd place
NPC Metrolina, 3rd place
NPC Jr. USA, did not place
2007: NPC Atlantic Coat Crystal Cup, 2nd place
NPC Mountaineer, 1st place
2008 NPC North Carolina State Championships, 1st place
NPC Jr. USA, 12th place
2009 NPC Jr. USA, did not place

Reflecting on My Journey

As I look back, I think I’ve taken on so much information that I’m starting to forget more than I can remember. I still have one of my original diet journals, from before I ever competed. I was very, very detail oriented about every single fat, carb, and protein gram that I consumed. I tried to keep a pretty even 40/40/20 split in my diet at the time, and that seemed to work for me.

I could go on forever, discussing methods that I’ve found to work, things that never did and so forth, but the main thing I’ve learned on this journey, is that there’s not one answer. Fitness is a billion dollar industry in our country, yet we’re the most obese country in the world.

So many people want to find that one solution, that one pill, that one easy-to-follow-will-lose-10-pounds-in-a-minute diet, but it just doesn’t work that way! It really isn’t as easy as this food is “good for you,” and that food is “bad for you.”

Just like anything else in the world, you have to become your own advocate; no one can do it for you. But the good news is, there’s plenty of good help out there. The challenge is deciphering through all of it and figuring out what is contradictory and what’s comparable.

I definitely go through internal battles over feelings like skipping the gym or not sticking to a clean diet; I realize I have choices. I can give in and eat something rich and decadent, and quite honestly, sometimes I do. Sometimes, I don’t want to be in the “box” of the gym, so I try to get outdoors, instead.

It’s more about balance and remembering where I came from, as opposed to making this lifestyle so strict on myself that I don’t enjoy it anymore. It never gets easier, I can attest to that. But I know how much better I feel when I’m in shape, as opposed to when I’m not.

Competing is definitely one of my greatest accomplishments, but it’s not my only one. I think that honor should be given to my perseverance and belief in myself. What I’ve accomplished cannot be bought with money, and it cannot ever be taken away from me, either.

There were many times I was told I couldn’t or shouldn’t follow the fitness path I’d chosen. I’ve been told I’m too extreme, obsessed, and what I’m doing “isn’t healthy.” I’d gone through challenge after challenge, but I didn’t give in. I didn’t quit.

I have definitely had less support than I’ve had encouragement; I’ve even had some relationships go bad due to my chosen sport and occupation. But overcoming those obstacles has shaped me into the person I am today.

I have stayed true to myself and at the end of the day, it’s no one but me who has to spend 24 hours a day with me, so I better like myself! And I can honestly say that I really, really do.