BIKINI: MAURA BOUCHARD
October Accomplishment: Ft. Lauderdale Cup Overall Winner
Age 25
Height 5’3
Weight 103
Residence Denver, Colorado
Contest History/Highlights2012: Ft. Lauderdale Cup 1st Class B and Overall; Bev Francis Atlantic States 1st Class B and Overall;Jay Cutler Classic 2nd Class A; Suburban Championships 1st Class A and Overall; 2011: Ft. Lauderdale Cup 4th Class B; Colorado State 1st Place Class B and Overall, Novice Overall;Steel City Championship 3rd Class A
BRAZILIAN BORN “I was born in Brazil and moved to the United States in 2009. As far as fitness, in Brazil I was never really big about playing sports – that’s not really the culture. But I was always going to the gym and lifting weights. In Brazil we don’t really do cardio – you know, we care about the butt and that’s it.”
BIKINI INSPIRATION “I felt out of place leaving all of my family back home. I was really thinking about moving back to Brazil, I was trying to find something to make me happy. I always liked the bikini body-type, but didn’t know anything about bikini competitions at that time. So when I saw Nathalia Melo on the cover of [FitnessRx for Women] magazine, she mentioned a little of her story and how she started competing. So I emailed her to say “Hey, I’m from Brazil – I’m not crazy I just want to know what you are doing!’ We chatted and she told me about Team Bombshell, and the next day I signed up with them and started training for a show. It really helped me do a 360 in my life.”
NATURAL HIGH “In the beginning it was just ‘Let’s see how I do. Maybe I’ll just use this as an excuse to get in shape.’ What I liked about competing in the beginning was to just have the goal. After I stepped on stage loved the experience of just being there. The feel, the high, the emotion of being on stage and accomplishing something I know how hard I worked for was just unbelievable.”
ENJOY THE RIDE “In this sport it’s so easy to start putting pressure on yourself to be 1st or 2nd. But just enjoying being there is the most important thing to me. Remembering that is probably my biggest challenge now.”
LIFESTYLE CHOICE “Consistency is such a big thing. This is not something you can do one day and drop the next. You’re not going to see results right away. You need to have the determination to really want it – if its something you want bad enough, you’ll do it. It has to be a lifestyle, because everybody has families, everybody has a life.”
