Monique Cormier, who has overcome obesity and severe depression en route to becoming a world class amateur bodybuilder, joins Dave [ ... ]
Spotlight On NPC Bikini Competitor: Jacqueline "So Fit "Solomon
Category you compete
in: NPC Bikini Open
Date of birth: December 18th (Sagittarius BABYYYYYY)
Hometown: Hollis Park Gardens …Queens, NY
Career: Student/Bartender/Fit Mom
Competition history:
NY Metropolitan 2012 Bikini B Open 3rd Place
NJ Suburban 2012 Bikini B Open 2nd Place
Atlantic States 2012 Bikini B Open 2nd Place
Garden State 2012 Bikini B Open 3rd Place
Team Universe 2012 Bikini C Open 6th Place (Nationals)
North American 2012 Bikini C Open 4th Place (Nationals)
Eastern USA 2012 Bikini B Open 2nd Place
Ny Metropolitan 2013 Bikini B Open 3rd Place
NJ Suburban 2013 Bikini A Open 1st Place- Overall Winner'
NPC Pittsburg
h 2013 Bikini C Open 2nd Place
Garden State Classic 2013 Bikini B Open 2nd Place
Team Universe 2013 Bikini C Open 3rd Place (Nationals)
Next competition:
My next show will be Labor day Weekend 2013 the GNC North American Championships in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania where I will make another attempt to obtain an IFBB Pro Card.
How has your life changed since you adopted this lifestyle and started competing? Whatever decisions I make they not only affect me but affect my 12 year old son Jaiden. Competing has changed OUR lives for the better in so many ways. Before I started to train and prep for shows I had an extremely poor eating habits as well as organizational issues. Most days I would eat 2 meals a day and they wouldn't be very nutritious My father who has a medical background often begged me to change my unhealthy habits because of various hereditary factors, but once I started to compete it helped me to become more structured in my daily life as well as with my eating. I am so much more organized at home and I always say children do what they see and not as you say …my son is looking at what I do and mimicking me and its all positive. He eats what I eat and whenever I feel like straying from my meal plan during prep..he's like my little food police officer because he keeps me in check at all times!
What have you found to be the best way to balance family, friends, career, this lifestyle, etc… Anyone can be a bikini competitor BUT in order to be a top competitor you MUST make MAJOR sacrifices! Nothing worth having in life comes easy and I want to give the politically correct answer for this question, but I'm gonna go with the correct answer for me! In life you cannot make everyone happy but you can make some of the people happy! My first and main concern is my son..he comes before me..once he is taken care of then I just live life day by day one meal, one workout and one cardio session at a time. I really don't hang out at all with friends or family when I'm prepping for a show… I'm usually pretty busy with school and work so I have yet to find a great balance for everything else but I'm working on it…maybe some fellow competitors may have some great ideas for me :)
If you could change places with one competitor for the day who would it be and why? I honestly wouldn't want to be anyone otherr than myself but if I had to change places with one competitor for a day then this question was a "NO BRAINER"!! Nicole Nagrani!! I always tell lil Nagrani (mom is big Nagrani) that she is WISE beyond her years! She has such an old soul ..she is so intelligent and such a well rounded young woman that has her head screwed on straight forward! She has managed to obtain some of the highest titles you can as a competitor all before she turned 21 years of age. Nicole did this while she was doing her undergrad as a pre med student and will actually be starting medical school in Grenada this fall! A lot of young women as well as a lot of older women can learn from her success!! She makes no excuses and her behavior is so admirable, thus why I say to me she is a class act!! She is also one of the most sweet, sincere and down to earth people you will come across in this industry and through it all has managed to stay humble and also lets not forget her killer body!
Name two of the most inspirational people in your life and tell why they inspire you.
I thought about this question long and hard because there are a great deal of people in my life that have inspired me and besides, this is definitely one of those questions that can get you in trouble lol! So there is one woman in my life that has taught me that when you have a dream you fight till the end…you don't give up…you overcome the obstacles and she is a mom, has a fiancé, a business woman, fitness model and has a great balance but her family always comes first but someway, somehow, she manages to stay on top and if I can learn anything form anyone it would be her because I am also a mother. My friends name is Stephanie Mahoe she is one of my best friends and my Team Bombshell team mate and after doing 21 shows she finally got her pro card at Team Universe 7/5/13 .
Another person who has influenced me is my Dad! My father was born in a very small town in the island of Trinidad named La Brea! His family was poor but my dad managed to stay on the straight and narrow by putting himself through school and becoming a Registered Nurse. He then migrated to NY where he passed his boards and became a nurse in this country..all the while raising a family and caring for his sick wife. He went to NYU and obtained a bachelors in International Business and marketing. Because my mother was always sick my dad often had to play both roles of mother and father to his 5 children.He even took me to all of my Girl Scout events when all the other girls brought their moms!! My fathers actions have taught me that with hard work and determination anything is possible and he made no excuses!! I want to make him proud by following in his footsteps by being as successful in my life! I guess you can just call me a daddies girl……I'll take it :)
Tell one recipe o
r supplement you can’t live without. There are quite a few products that I can't live without but there is 1 in particular that I NEED and thats my Turbo Shred Thermogenic Fat Burners by SWOLE SPORTS NUTRITION. I take them early morning 2 days on and 1 day off during the week. They give me the energy I need to do my cardio and burns fat..no crash or no jitters! Just an awesome cutting edge product!!
Tell about a typical training day for you. What exercises, how many sets/reps…etc… I usually do about a hour of cardio a day ..I usually do heavy weight with a lot of reps usually till failure because I like a challenge…. I usually dedicate one day to PLYOS and the other days is a mixture of body parts! I train 5 days a week and do cardio 6…sunday is my rest day...
In closing, Who would you like to give a shout out to? I wanna give a big shout out to my dad, my sister Joann( who is also my make up artist) and my son Jaiden who have believed in me when no one else did, my coaches Shannon Dey and Rob Rosetti for giving me the winning formula, to my sponsors Pro Tan for keeping me nicely bronzed for my shows and Swole Sports Nutrition for keeping me fully stocked with awesome supplements, to Mr. Steve Weinberger, Bev Francis, Maz Ali and Gary Udit for having some phenomenal well run events to date this season and all of my friends and family that have been there for me through think and thin. My cousin Simone… Stephanie, Frank, Angela, Rey, Johnny, Maria, Corinna, Jenni Farley (Jwoww)Tyesha, Lisa Pure and also my gf/,makeup artist Eve Chen (MelangeNYC) just all of my boos who been so understanding of me being MIA! Thank you for being so understanding and respecting my HUSTLE :)
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