Imagine that you are the mother of three young children and that you are
actively involved in their school programs. Imagine that you are a busy
wife but also a personal trainer with clients and varying schedules to
accommodate. Imagine that you are a professional figure competitor with
high ambitions and a rigorous training schedule.
Imagine
that you value charity work and feel that helping others achieve their
potential to be one of life’s greatest priorities. Now imagine that you
somehow manage to accomplish it all and you might know what it’s like to
be Lorelei Sowa, our current Model of the Month.
"I
currently do quite a bit of volunteer work for my children's elementary
school as I am a big believer that charity is EXTREMELY important, but
that it starts at home. I have run the Field day event for 685 (+ or-)
children at Buttonball elementary school. The work involves
coordinating parent volunteers, developing fun active games for the
children and providing food, entertainment and water for the day. It is
usually remembered by most of their kids as their favorite day of
school. Additionally, I help out when I can on a program called Natures
trail. It is an opportunity for the kids to go for a short 1/2 mile
hike in the woods behind the school before school. The goal is to get
the kids moving and excited about the day while enjoying nature.
"Since contentment with what I know I can change never sits
well with me, I chose to make a change."
Because my
children are so heavily involved in sports, I find these two school
events enough for now due to the increased demands on my time juggling
football practice, soccer practice, baseball practice, gymnastics,
brownies, horseback ridding and violin. Balance is always about
delicate shifts, and I try to maintain balance at all times. I will
admit that sometimes I am better at it than others. When I can do more
I will do more. In the past, I have done more organized volunteering,
such as being president of a women's group in Newtown CT (WIN) and
running meals for wheels. I have also done candy stripe sort of work in
Johnson County hospital in Overland Park when I used to reside in
Kansas. I even taught CCD for church two years in a row before I
started working outside the home.
While I
consider motherhood, my 1st priority in life, I do work outside the home
as a personal trainer at Alpha Fitness in Manchester, Connecticut. I
have run a free talk there on healthy eating while dining out and run a
book club once a week on a health related topic of a new book out which
is open to everyone!
I
currently have included two clients who I train twice a week for the
past year for free as they would otherwise not be able to afford a
trainer. I get so much from these two clients, I feel they are the ones
giving back to me. One of them is an 18 year old girl who has struggled
much of her life with body image. It is so rewarding when I get the
thank you from her mother who tells me she has never been happier in her
life. Perhaps I gain so much joy from this because I too was once an
overweight teenager struggling to find my way. I weighed 170 at the age
of 15 and definitely could not run a mile. I was overshadowed by my two
older sisters, the beautiful athletic gymnast, and the brilliant
academic one. I felt so worthless. I never dated (just like my client)
and stayed home from school dances to eat cookies. Did I ever know
about emotional eating! Oprah had nothing on me. When I got the
opportunity to train my current teenager, I was so impressed with her
willingness to show up twice a week, EVERY week for a year. At first
results were slow. It has been so much fun to watch her grow up, loose 20
pounds, start getting A's in college and getting a boyfriend. I am sure
all of these things might have happened on her own, but it is fun to
think I might have been a positive influence in her life in some small
way. She has definitely inspired me to work with more teenage girls who
are also just trying to find their way. So much of heir lives is so
unhealthy, that I just want to be one positive influence in their life.
"I weighed 170 at the age of 15 and definitely could not run
a mile"
I
am not sure how I got into health and fitness myself, but a huge part
must be my own mother. She began running marathons at the age of 50 and
has since run 15! I am currently trying to get her to lift more, but
happy she is active in any capacity. I used to run quite a bit with
her, and even ran the Walt Disney marathon myself in 1999. It wasn't
until I was around the age of 33 that I really got hooked on
bodybuilding. I was inspired by a girl
in my gym, Barbara Traverso, who put me in touch with my current
trainer, Doug Dorsey, that I really made any real changes in my body. I
would love to say I still had pregnancy fat to loose, but at this point
my youngest daughter was three. At some point, I woke up and realized
that unless I made some real change in my life, I was going to have to
be content with being a dowdy housewife. Since contentment with what I
know I can change never sits well with me I chose to make a change. Doug
definitely took me further than I ever dreamed of going, and even
brought me to my first figure stage in New Haven Connecticut at the
Robert Fulton show in June of 2005. I took third in the show, but was I
ever hooked. I knew I could do better, so I have not given up since! I
got my WNBF pro card at the Nancy Andrews show in May of 2006 just one
year later.
"I am sure all of these things might have happened on her own, but it is
fun to think I might have been a positive influence in her life in some
small way"
I have
found the pro division challenging, but each and every show I come out
inspired to keep going. I am sure at some point, I will age myself out
of competition, but hopefully no time soon. If and When that happens,
the journey along the way has been so amazing and the transformations in
me have been life altering. I have learned more than I had imagined and
have experienced desire in a way I thought not possible. When People
speak of passion, I now think I understand. Physical challenges battle
so much more than fat. The mental transformation in many ways has been
so much greater than the physical. I am in constant gratitude."
Lorelei
Sowa
Because of her commitment to physical excellence, inspiring others and
leading by example, Lift for Life is honored to name Lorelei Sowa as
Model of the Month.
