| In January 2004 I started lifting weights.
I never was in a bad shape, I always ate healthy and stayed
away from most processed foods and was active during the day
with outdoor activities. So it wasn't that I was out of shape
that got me into fitness. I started lifting weights because
I was curious. 'How would I be like in my ultimate shape?
How will I look like if I train to be as perfect as I could
possibly be?' These questions intrigued me, and the beautiful
physiques and strong mentalities of certain fitness and figure
athletes and female bodybuilders inspired me. I wanted to
answer these questions for myself and so I started weightlifting
and doing aerobic exercise. As I was working out, I kept progressing,
using heavier weights and wanting to learn more about the
sport. When I set my goals on something and decide to go for
it, I follow it through, and until I have achieved my ultimate
goal, it can always be better.
When I lived in the United States for almost a year in 2004/2005
I trained in a gym where a very popular professional female
bodybuilder also trained. I saw her every day, she motivated
me a lot and as I became friends with her and her relatives
and trained with one of her relatives for a while, I learned
to train seriously and with discipline. They thought me the
professional mentality towards fitness and bodybuilding and
I am very grateful for that. As they competed, I was getting
very interested in starting to compete myself. She told me
I had a great physique and good genes to be a good athlete
and so I started training towards a goal: to start competing
in fitness.
I moved back to Holland and contacted the person who I thought
could help me best to start competing in Holland for the first
time. I contacted Ms Olympia 2001-2003 Juliëtte Bergmann
and explained to her how much I wanted to compete and asked
for her help. She gave me all the guidance and advise I needed
to find my way, also in training and in my diet. I have learned
so much from her, she is my biggest inspiration and I am very
grateful to have the opportunity to learn from this woman
who has achieved such great things and who I respect so much.
I also had another great coach: 'The creator of champions'
Rinus van der Zeijden. He guided me step by step, day by day
with my diet and tought me so much. His continued care, guidance
and support means so much to me and I am very thankful for
him to have come on my path. With the guidance of these great
people I competed in several competitions, always with succesful
results. For my first competition I competed in the NBBF-IFBB
Eemsmond Cup (the Emerald) and won 1st place Miss Fitness
2005 right away! This qualified me for the IFBB Dutch Championships
(the nationals). In this second competition I won 2nd place
and I got invited for the IFBB European Championships in the
Ukraine. What an honour!
Now I have developped real passion for fitness and bodybuilding.
I love to compete and continue with my fitness career and
I hope to make it big some day. I am certainly determined
and motivated and I hope to motivate others to live a fit
and healthy lifestyle aswell. As I am blessed with two of
the best people helping me, I am sure I will do the same for
other people some day.
'Bodybuilding is a teamsport and true happiness, succes &
motivation should be shared'.
Mercedes Khani
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